U.S. indicts three Takata executives, fines company $1 billion in air-bag scandal

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

U.S. indicts three Takata executives, fines company $1 billion in air-bag scandal

By Steven Overly

@stevenoverly
http://twitter.com/stevenoverly

January 13 at 2:55 AM

Federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against three Takata executives and fined the Japanese auto-parts maker $1 billion on Friday for concealing information about faulty air bags, leading to the deaths of several motorists and prompting the largest safety recall in U.S. history.

Shinichi Tanaka, Hideo Nakajima and Tsuneo Chikaraishi, all of Japan, were indicted on charges connected to deceiving automobile companies about known defects in order to continue selling products they knew failed safety tests. At the time national recalls began in 2015, Takata was the worlds second-largest provider of air bags.

On Friday, the Justice Department announced that Takata would plead guilty to one count of fraud and pay $25 million to settle the criminal charge. The company will also pay $850 million to automakers and $125 million to those injured as a result of the defect, according to a plea agreement.

Automotive suppliers who sell products that are supposed to protect consumers from injury or death must put safety ahead of profits, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Friday. If they choose instead to engage in fraud, we will hold accountable the individuals and business entities who are responsible.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/01/13/u-s-indicts-three-takata-executives-in-faulty-airbag-scandal/

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The time stamp is wrong. This just came out. The article discusses things that happened on Friday (today), so the article could not have gone online at 2:55 a.m.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. New technologies

sometimes require years of burn-in to thoroughly test and get the bugs out

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

2. Sadly...

... I opened this thread because I wanted to comment that they are starting to name and go after the actual management/corporate officers in these suits. I noticed it with the Volkswagen news of a couple of days ago.

[Bengus81]

7. Get the bugs out?

That's fine but you don't do it by letting the public DIE in the process. They've know for about 16 years there were problems. Problems so BAD they did like VW and faked it.

I wouldn't settle for the measly amount they want to plead to.

[Bill Hansun]

3. Profits Before Safety

That's what big business does, let's the consumer take all the risk

[MurrayDelph]

4. I wish they would take the

"corporations are people" argument to it's proper conclusion:

If corporations are people, then when they commit malfeasance, the corporation should be arrested (all production halted), tried, and if found guilty all activities suspended for a proper term (with all workers violating this then found to be accomplices).

If you cannot arrest them, they are not people. If they are not people, they don't get the rights of people.

[nitpicker]

5. Looks like WAPO updated the article without noting update time

The title of the video started "Takata to plead guilty".

[nitpicker]

6. From the DoJ PR

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/takata-corporation-agrees-plead-guilty-and-pay-1-billion-criminal-penalties-airbag

(snip)

According to the company’s admissions, in the late 1990s, Takata began developing airbag inflators that relied upon ammonium nitrate as their primary propellant. From at least in or around 2000, Takata knew that certain ammonium nitrate-based inflators were not performing to the specifications required by the auto manufacturers. Takata also knew that certain inflators had sustained failures, including ruptures, during testing. Nevertheless, Takata induced its customers to purchase these airbag systems by submitting false and fraudulent reports and other information that concealed the true condition of the inflators. This fraudulent data made the performance of the company’s airbag inflators appear better than it actually was, including by omitting that, in some instances, inflators ruptured during testing. Takata employees – including a number of key executives – routinely discussed the falsification of test reports being provided to Takata’s customers in email and in verbal communications. Even after the inflators began to experience repeated problems in the field – including ruptures causing injuries and deaths – Takata executives continued to withhold the true and accurate inflator test information and data from their customers.

In addition, Takata took no disciplinary actions against those involved in the falsification of test data until 2015, despite the fact that senior executives had been made aware of the fraudulent conduct years earlier.
(snip)