$10m Archives | AutoDepot

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Lexus, Toyota

Toyota Settlement According to The Detroit Free Press, Toyota has agreed to settle the case in which four people died in a runaway Lexus to the tune of $10 million. The crash, which occurred in August 2009, killed an off-duty police officer, his wife, brother-in-law and daughter and set off a torrent of recalls and investigations into just how long the Japanese automaker had known about unintended acceleration issues. In this case, the accelerator was trapped by the wrong-sized floor mat, but Toyota would later recall vehicles not only with similar issues, but with pedals that could stick as well.

Originally, both Toyota and the plaintiffs wanted to have the results of the settlement sealed, though Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr decided that the public had a right to know the details of the case, and that right outweighed arguments from both sides. As with the two civil penalties that Toyota has paid to the federal government for failing to notify safety officials of the problems in a timely manner, Toyota has not admitted any wrong doing by settling the case.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

Report: Toyota to pay out $10M in Lexus runaway lawsuit originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials

Farnbacher-Loles Porsche

One year ago, we reported that Gregory Loles, team principal behind the well-regarded Farnbacher Loles racing outfit and Porsche performance shop, had gotten himself embroiled in an alleged fraud scheme. We hadn’t heard much about the scandal since last December, but now the United States Attorney for Connecticut has announced that a federal grand jury has returned a 32-count indictment against Loles. Among the indictments, Loles is being charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering – to the tune of over $10 million dollars.

According to the official Department of Justice press release, Loles, 51, also owned an investment adviser and brokerage firm called Apeiron Capital Management, Inc., an operation he ran as an unregistered investment adviser after his SEC listing was canceled in 1998. Loles evidently misrepresented his dealings and used monies from his investors (including a Connecticut church’s endowment and building funds) to pay personal bills and other unrelated expenses. While he was said to be diverting these funds, he provided false financial statements to his clients, and he made periodic payments to some of them using other investors’ money.

The case is being investigated in conjunction with the FBI and SEC, and if convicted, Loles could be going away for a very long time. The mail fraud, wire fraud and four of the money laundering charges alone carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, and other charges carry terms of up to 10 years.

You can read more about the charges leveled against Loles in the official DOJ press release at the link below. Thanks for the tip, Benjamin!

[Sources: New Haven FBI, Newstimes | Image: Image: Chris Graythen/Getty]

Followup: Farnbacher Loles team owner charged with $10M fraud originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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