The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging that Steve’s Towing Inc. in Virginia Beach, Va., violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by failing to obtain court orders before auctioning off vehicles belonging to at least seven SCRA-protected servicemembers, including two vehicles belonging to […]
Collision Repair Center Office Secretary Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing Over $200,000 from Employer
Rhode Island woman pleaded guilty to mail fraud. A Pawtucket, R.I. woman who, while working as office secretary at Ideal Auto Body in Cranston, devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain the proceeds of nearly 200 checks provided to customers by their insurance companies to pay for vehicle repairs, has been sentenced to two years in federal […]
Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Conspiracy Over Fraudulent Tax Filings at Maryland Collision Repair Facility
Defendants will be required to pay over $2 Million in restitution. Ercin Kalender, age 60, and Lizette Kalender, age 44, both of Alexandria, Virginia pleaded guilty February 3 to conspiracy in relation to tax fraud within their corporate filings and business taxes. As part of their plea agreements, the Kalenders have been ordered to pay […]
Massachusetts Towing Company Owner Sentenced for Tax Fraud and Evading Cash Transaction Reporting
The owner of a Revere, Mass. towing company was sentenced on charges of engaging in an under-the-table payroll fraud scheme that defrauded the government of more than $3.3 million. Gennaro Angiulo, 49, of Nahant and Saugus, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 42 months of probation with 18 months […]
Forest Service Employee and Collision Repair Shop Operator Indicted for Kickback Scheme for No-Bid Auto Body Work in California
A United States Forest Service employee was arrested March 1 on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with illegally directing nearly $900,000 in no-bid Forest Service vehicle repair and maintenance work to a JP’s Collision and Auto Body Center, Inc. in Bloomington, Calif. that illicitly paid him more than $360,000 in bribes and kickbacks. […]
Extradited Former Automotive Parts Executive Pleads Guilty to Antitrust Charge
Fugitive for nearly five years, leads guilty to antitrust conspiracy to raise prices of instrument clusters. Eun Soo Kim, a former key accounts manager for Continental Automotive Korea Ltd. and a Korean national, was extradited from Germany and pleaded guilty for his role in an international market allocation and bid-rigging conspiracy involving the sale of […]
Auto Parts Manufacturer Pleads Guilty to Antitrust Conspiracy Involving Steel Tubes
Company agrees to pay $12 million criminal fine. Maruyasu Industries Co. Ltd., an automotive parts manufacturer headquartered in the Aichi Prefecture in Japan, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $12 million criminal fine for its role in a criminal conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for automotive steel tubes incorporated […]
Auto Door Latch Manufacturer to Plead Guilty to Bid Rigging, Pay $6.1 Million Fine
Kiekert AG, an automotive parts manufacturer based in Heiligenhaus, Germany, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $6.1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to rig bids of side-door latches and latch minimodules installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today. According […]
Two Auto Parts Companies and Five Executives Indicted for Price Fixing
A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio returned two indictments charging Japanese automotive parts companies, their U.S. subsidiaries, and a total of five executives for their alleged participation in international conspiracies to eliminate competition in the sale of automotive parts sold in the United States and elsewhere, […]
Former Auto Parts Company President Pleads Guilty to Bid-Rigging
The former president of an automotive parts company pleaded guilty yesterday and was sentenced to serve 18 months in a U.S. prison for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for the sale of automotive body sealing products sold in the United States, the Justice Department announced. Keiji Kyomoto, a former […]