Never Mind The Politics: Here's The Toyota Criminal Investigation

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Even if Toyota hadn’t antagonized the ruling party, its congressional hearings would have been a posture-fest anyway. Congress can’t do much about Toyota’s recent behavior besides name, shame and tell the NHTSA to do a better job next time. Sure, the lights and cameras of congressional theater might get Akio Toyoda to sweat a little, but with an ever-increasing number of civil suits pending, criminal investigations are the real cause for concern. A New York federal grand jury has subpoenaed “certain documents related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the braking system of the Prius,” reports the LA Times. Both Toyota and its US sales division were also targeted by an SEC subpoena, requesting similar documents, including details of the company’s disclosure policy. If either of these criminal cases move forward, those pending civil suits could grow a much more powerful set of legs.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Bwell Bwell on Feb 22, 2010

    Like the man said: "We're not done with them yet."

  • Steven02 Steven02 on Feb 22, 2010

    The worse congress can do is get sound bites that repeat on the local news, which could hurt Toyota's image. The criminal complaints I hadn't heard of. If Toyota has broken some laws criminally, that would be some really bad press for the auto manufacture and very detrimental when it concerns the civil cases.

    • Indi500fan Indi500fan on Feb 22, 2010

      Tort lawyers are ready for a feeding frenzy, and $400 / hour "expert" witnesses are in for a robust few years.

  • Ihatetrees Ihatetrees on Feb 22, 2010

    While this is an excellent way for the government create more "Toyota Kills People" hype, it'll still be a tough case to prove. Essentially the law in question was passed after the Exploder / Firestone fiasco. It states that you can't lie to the NHTSA. Which could be very tough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Things may get worse for Toyota. But other automakers who see a way to pick up market share should be wary. Every manufacturer has a percentage of potential Darwin Award Winners as customers. Some - cough-GM-cough - more than others. These 'winners' teamed with trial lawyers won't stop at furrin' manufacturers if they think they have good lawsuit-lottery chances from a poorly handled recall. And while Toyota may have deep pockets, Uncle Taxpayer is the Mariana Trench.

    • Talkstoanimals Talkstoanimals on Feb 22, 2010

      Edward, the SEC doesn't do criminal investigations. While they can make criminal referals, usually to the USAO,, the agency's own powers are limited to civil sanctions.

  • GS650G GS650G on Feb 22, 2010

    From 90 a share to 75 in 4 weeks. Shave another 10 bucks off the share price and I'm in for a sawbuck. It's going back up to 100 eventually. Meanwhile Government Motors is being handed their opportunity. Ditto the Italian connection.

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