Tag: fraud

Follow-up: Ex-Delphi CEO cleared of fraud, convicted of lesser charges

DelphiA federal jury has cleared Former Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg of the most serious allegations levied against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC had charged both Battenberg and former Delphi accountant Paul Free with a variety of offenses, the most severe of which were fraud charges associated with misrepresenting a $237 million payment to General Motors. On Thursday, the jury cleared Battenberg of four of the most severe charges, but found him guilty of failing to maintain accurate books or records and misleading his accountants.

Meanwhile, the jury found that Free was guilty of violating rules associated with a smaller transaction that Delphi made with a bank.

The SEC had accused Battenberg of misreporting the payment to General Motors in order to make the company’s bottom line appear stronger to investors than it actually was. The move was believed to have been made to secure larger bonuses for the CEO and other executives.

[Source: Reuters]

Follow-up: Ex-Delphi CEO cleared of fraud, convicted of lesser charges originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Follow-up: Ex-Delphi CEO cleared of fraud, convicted of lesser charges”

Followup: Farnbacher Loles team owner charged with $10M fraud

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.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Followup: Farnbacher Loles team owner charged with $10M fraud”

Cash for Clunkers fraud investigation begins

Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal

Where there’s money, there’s fraud, and that appears to have been true with last year’s Cash for Clunkers program. According to a report from USA Today, the federal government is investigating around 20 dealers that may have violated the terms of the car-swapping scheme. So far, a total of nine dealerships have paid $71,500 in fines as a result of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s findings.

In some cases, NHTSA suspects that vehicles meant for the scrap heap were actually shipped overseas and resold. Unsubstantiated reports claim that around 24 vehicles slipped out of the country in this fashion. Meanwhile, some junkyards have still yet to provide proof that other vehicles were in fact destroyed – a key piece of the process.

USA Today says that of all of the Cash for Clunkers claims, around 3.3 percent of the group have some sort of problem with their paperwork that may impact around $94 million in rebates. Even so, NHTSA says that there is no widespread fraud issue with the Cash for Clunkers program, and that the issues it has turned up are due to a few bad dealerships trying to work the system.

[Source: USA Today | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]

Cash for Clunkers fraud investigation begins originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Cash for Clunkers fraud investigation begins”

Report: SV Motors head indicted for investment fraud

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Government/Legal, Specialty

SV Motors 9 Competizione – Click above for high-res image gallery

Exactly a year ago today, we got our first real-life glimpse of the SV Motors 9 Competizione, an American/Italian mash-up built atop the C6 Chevrolet Corvette and coated in custom carbon fiber coachwork. 365 days later and the dream has turned into a nightmare.

Joseph Viloa (aka Giuseppe Viola), a 58-year-old investment consultant based in San Francisco, CA and the man behind SV Motors, has reportedly been indicted by a federal grand jury on aggravated identity theft, mail and wire fraud. In the process, he allegedly bilked victims for around $7 million – two million of which went into the design and production of the SV 9. And this wasn’t the first time he’s run afoul of the law.

Viloa was previous convicted of fraud, serving five years in Arizona, and is currently behind bars in Maricopa County where he’s awaiting trial for another fraud case from 1990. His latest round of illegal escapades reportedly ran from 2004 to 2010, during which he may have defrauded at least 60 investors.

From what we can gather, only a handful of SV 9s were produced, so assuming the Feds get their conviction, the only time you’ll see a Competizione is at the occasional auto show and – yes – as Lafayette’s ride in True Blood re-runs. Top tippage Brian!

Gallery: SV Motor Company 9 Competizione

[Source: SFGate]

Report: SV Motors head indicted for investment fraud originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: SV Motors head indicted for investment fraud”