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<\/p>\n2\/27\/17 – Tokyo-based Takata Corporation, one of the world\u2019s largest suppliers of automotive safety-related equipment, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from the company\u2019s conduct in relation to sales of defective airbag inflators.<\/p>\n
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department\u2019s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge David Gelios of the FBI\u2019s Detroit Field Office and Regional Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Ullom of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General\u2019s (OIG) Chicago Field Office made the announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor over a decade, Takata lied to its customers about the safety and reliability of its ammonium nitrate-based airbag inflators,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. \u00a0\u201cTakata abused the trust of both its customers and the public by allowing airbag inflators to be put in vehicles knowing that the inflators did not meet the required specifications. \u00a0Today\u2019s sentence shows that the department will work tirelessly to hold responsible those who engage in this type of criminal conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that today’s guilty plea and sentence will send a message to suppliers of consumer safety products that they must put safety ahead of profits,\u201d said U.S. Attorney McQuade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commission of fraudulent activity by the Takata Corporation to generate corporate profits jeopardized the safety of American consumers,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Gelios. \u00a0\u201cToday’s guilty plea should reassure American consumers that the FBI and its federal law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue corporations and their employees when they violate federal laws.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s sentencing of Takata Corporation for wire fraud related to sales of defective airbag inflators is a clear signal to all whose duty it is to protect the public: your most solemn obligation is to public safety,\u201d said Regional Special Agent in Charge Ullom.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs is true for Secretary Chao and the Department of Transportation, safety is and will remain the highest priority for OIG, and we remain committed to working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners in pursuing those who commit criminal violations of transportation-related laws and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Takata pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh of the Eastern District of Michigan to a one count criminal information charging the company with wire fraud.\u00a0\u00a0After accepting Takata\u2019s guilty plea, Judge Steeh, consistent with the terms of the plea agreement, sentenced Takata to pay a total criminal penalty of $1 billion, including $975 million in restitution and a $25 million fine, and three years\u2019 probabtion.\u00a0\u00a0Under a joint restitution order entered at the time of sentencing, two restitution funds will be established: a $125 million fund for those individuals who have been physically injured by Takata\u2019s airbags and who have not already reached a settlement with the company, and a $850 million fund for airbag recall and replacement costs incurred by those auto manufacturers who were victims of Takata\u2019s fraud scheme.\u00a0\u00a0A court-appointed special master will oversee administration of the restitution funds.\u00a0\u00a0Takata will also implement rigorous internal controls, retain an independent compliance monitor for a term of three years and cooperate fully with the department\u2019s ongoing investigation, including its investigation of individuals.<\/p>\n
According to admissions made during the course of the guilty plea, from 2000 through and including 2015, Takata carried out a scheme to defraud its customers and auto manufacturers by providing false and manipulated airbag inflator test data that made the performance of the company\u2019s airbag inflators appear better than it actually was. Even after the inflators began to experience repeated problems in the field \u2013 including ruptures causing injuries and deaths \u2013 Takata executives continued to withhold the true and accurate inflator test information and data from their customers.<\/p>\n
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s Office of Inspector General investigated the case.\u00a0\u00a0Trial Attorneys Brian K. Kidd, Christopher D. Jackson and Andrew R. Tyler of the Criminal Division\u2019s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John K. Neal, Erin S. Shaw and Andrew J. Yahkind of the Eastern District of Michigan prosecuted the case. The Criminal Division\u2019s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2\/27\/17 – Tokyo-based Takata Corporation, one of the world\u2019s largest suppliers of automotive safety-related equipment, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from the company\u2019s conduct in relation to sales of defective airbag inflators. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18397"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18399,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397\/revisions\/18399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}