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GM to pay $900m to avoid criminal inquiry into fault that led to deaths
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)


The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers), September 17, 2015
Posted: September 20th, 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/17/gm-fine-avoi...

General Motors has agreed to pay a $900m fine to avoid a criminal investigation into allegations that it deliberately hid information about a fault that led to the deaths of at least 124 people. As part of the settlement with the Department of Justice on Thursday, GM admitted that it failed to disclose to its US regulator and the public a potentially lethal safety defect and further affirmatively misled consumers about the safety of GM cars afflicted by the defect. The company paid the fine in order to avoid being criminally charged with scheming to conceal the fact that a fault with its ignition switch could lead to engines suddenly turning off and brakes being disabled. Americas largest car maker eventually recalled 2.6m cars to replace the faulty ignition switch. An investigation found that GM engineers and lawyers knew about the defect for more than a decade before the company admitted to any problem and began the recall. GM fired 15 employees following the 2014 internal investigation. Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group, said: GM killed over a 100 people by knowingly putting a defective ignition switch into over 1 million vehicles. Today thanks to its lobbyists, GM officials walk off scot-free while its customers are six feet under.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing corporate corruption news articles from reliable major media sources.


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