Washington (AFP) – The United States on Friday indicted three former Takata executives, bringing the first criminal charges in a scandal over exploding airbags that caused the largest auto safety recall in US history.
The individuals, who left the Japanese company in 2015, were charged with fraud for hiding the flaws in the airbags, according to documents filed in federal court in Michigan.
Days after charging six Volkswagen executives over the “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal, the US Justice Department is close to settling the Takata case before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Sources say the deal could include a fine of more than $1 billion. Justice Department officials are due to hold a press conference on the case at 1830 GMT.
The government charged Shinichi Tanaka, Hideo Nakajima and Tsuneo Chikaraishi, who all worked at Takata facilities in Japan and the United States.
They knew the airbag inflators were not performing to standard and “routinely discussed the fabrication of test information and data and removal of unfavorable test information and data” about the performance of the airbags, the government said.
Some 100 million Takata airbags have been recalled worldwide over a defect that can send metal and plastic shrapnel hurtling from the inflator canister toward drivers and passengers when an airbag is deployed.
The defect has been linked to 11 US fatalities and 15 worldwide. US regulators have said the problem is more dangerous in southern parts of the United States with warmer and more humid climates.
Nearly every major carmaker has been forced to recall vehicles because of the defect, including General Motors, Honda, BMW and Tesla.
In November 2015, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposed a record $200 million civil fine against Takata for providing inadequate and inaccurate information to regulators about the defect.
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