$1B Penalty for Toyota

Toyota will pay more than one billion dollars in a settlement over safety issues, the largest such criminal penalty imposed on an auto company in U.S. History. Attorney General Eric Holder said Toyota intentionally misled consumers about unintended vehicle acceleration in 2009 and 2010. Holder noted that the Japanese automaker also concealed problems from U.S. regulators. He accused Toyota of shamefully treating a serious safety issue as if it were only a public relations problem. Holder said Toyota has agreed to “fully admit wrongdoing.” The settlement allows Toyota to avoid criminal charges for three years, as long as it fully abides by terms of the settlement. Federal prosecutors in New York, said Toyota is essentially “on probation” for three years.