General Motors stunned the automotive world late last year when it sued Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for racketeering.
At the time, GM accused FCA of bribing United Auto Workers (UAW) officials in order to corrupt labor talks to its advantage, with the scheme allegedly costing General Motors billions of dollars.
After analyzing the evidence, U.S. District Judge Paul Borman was not convinced GM had a case, so he ordered the CEOs of the two parties to meet in person without legal counsel and come to a “sensible” resolution by July 1. Borman dismissed the racketeering lawsuit, saying GM’s alleged injuries were not caused by FCA’s alleged violations.
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Despite that, last month GM asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to vacate the judge’s ruling, describing it as a “profound abuse of the power and the critically important, but essentially limited, office of the federal judiciary.”
The case appears to be far from over as on Monday, August 3, the automaker asked the U.S. federal judge to reinstate the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) lawsuit against FCA in light of new incriminating information. More specifically, GM says it has “reliable information concerning the existence of foreign bank accounts” used in the alleged bribery scheme involving FCA and former UAW leaders.
In a filing to U.S. District Judge Paul Borman seen by Reuters, GM says the scheme “is much broader and deeper than previously suspected or revealed as it involved FCA Group apparently using various accounts in foreign countries … to control corrupt individuals by compensating and corrupting those centrally involved in the scheme to harm GM.”
As a result, GM is seeking “substantial damages” that one analyst estimate to total at least $6 billion. “These new facts warrant amending the court’s prior judgment, so we are respectfully asking the court to reinstate the case,” GM said in a statement.
In response, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued the following statement: “FCA will continue to defend itself vigorously and pursue all available remedies in response to GM’s attempts to resurrect this groundless lawsuit.”
As for the UAW, it said it is “unaware of any allegations regarding illicit off-shore accounts as claimed. If GM actually has substantive information supporting its allegations, we ask that they provide it to us so we can take all appropriate actions.”