As if the worldwide recall of its Galaxy Note 7 — not to mention 2.8 million washing machines that could break your jaw — wasn’t enough of an issue for Samsung, one of the company’s executives has now been linked to a growing bribery scandal investigation in South Korea. [More]
investigation
VW Executive Arrested In Connection With ‘Dieselgate’ Scandal
By 1.9.17
Five months after investigators found evidence of criminal behavior at Volkswagen tied to “Dieselgate,” one executive with the carmaker has been arrested. [More]
Police Want To Find Out If Amazon Echo Recorded Evidence Of Homicide
By 12.27.16
The issue of who can access information stored on your electronic devices has become increasingly controversial in the last year, with authorities obtaining search warrants to unlock smartphones for everyone in an office building, courts ruling that police can force smartphone users to give up their devices’ passcodes, and federal lawmakers trying to force weakened encryption on consumers. Now, police investigating a homicide are hoping to get a look under the hood of Amazon’s Echo speaker to see if its virtual “Alexa” assistant might have recorded evidence of a murder. [More]
Braking Failures In Older Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan Vehicles Under Investigation
By 12.27.16
When driving in certain weather situations — like a snowstorm or when it’s raining — it’s important to leave enough room between you and other vehicles to lessen the chance of an accident. But that space may not be enough when it comes to nearly 475,000 Ford and Mercury vehicles now under investigation for brake failure. [More]
Smart Cars Under Investigation After 8 Reports Of Engine Fires
By 12.21.16
There are a lot of things you don’t want to happen to your car, but having it go up in flames for no apparent reason is likely close to the top of the list. Yet, that’s apparently occurred to eight Smart vehicles in the last two years. [More]
Regulators Investigating 1M Dodge Trucks, SUVs Linked To Rollaway Incidents
By 12.20.16
Six months after confusing gear shifters made headlines following the death of Star Trek Actor Anton Yelchin, federal regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into one million Dodge trucks and SUVs with similar shifters after receiving more than 40 complaints the vehicles have rolled away after drivers put them in the “Park” position. [More]
Pharmacists Will Hand Over Drug Combinations That Could Kill You About Half The Time
By 12.19.16
Most chain pharmacies want you to feel safe ordering from them, and so their ads tout the skill, expertise, and personal touch of their tools and personnel. They promise available pharmacists who have computers who alert them to danger, and who can then tell you things like, “Hey, you shouldn’t take these together; it will kill you” if there’s a problem. [More]
Xerox Pays $2.4M To Settle Allegations It Overcharged Student Loan Borrowers
By 11.23.16
Xerox does a lot more than make huge copy machines for your office. For more than a year, the company’s student loan servicing division has been under state and federal investigation for allegations that it violated debt collection laws and overcharged borrowers. Now Xerox has agreed to pay $2.4 million to close the book on one such investigation in Massachusetts. [More]
Senator Calls For Investigation Into Office Depot’s Alleged Computer Scanning Scheme
By 11.18.16
Following a whistleblower report that some Office Depot staffers are allegedly falsely telling customers their computers are infected with viruses in order to sell them on unnecessary repair services, one lawmaker is calling on federal regulators to investigate. [More]
Apple Investigating Report Of iPhone 7 Catching Fire
By 10.21.16
While we’ve heard numerous reports of Samsung smartphones and tablets overheating and catching fire — sometimes destroying property and injuring customers — now Apple is on the receiving end of at least one similar report. [More]
Did Morgan Stanley Advisors Push Customers Into Unneeded Loans?
By 10.3.16
If we’ve learned anything from Wells Fargo’s recent fake account fiasco, it’s that high-pressure sales tactics can lead to unethical and sometimes illegal behavior. But did similar sales quotas and incentives lead Morgan Stanley employees to push customers into unneeded loans? That’s a question regulators in Massachusetts aim to answer. [More]
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf To Forfeit $41M, Forgo Salary To Answer For Scandal
By 9.28.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
Following the revelation that Wells Fargo employees created more than two million unauthorized accounts in customers’ names to meet the bank’s high-pressure sales goals, the bank’s board has decided to claw back $41 million from CEO John Stumpf’s compensation package, and $19 million from Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of retail banking who failed to stop the chicanery. [More]
Feds Investigating Wells Fargo After Employees Open 2 Million Fake Accounts
By 9.15.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
Financial regulators recently ordered Wells Fargo to pay $185 million to resolve allegations that the bank’s sales quotas and incentives pushed employees to open millions of unauthorized accounts, but that my not be the end of Wells’ troubles, with the U.S. Department of Justice now looking into the matter. [More]
Tyson Fires Employees Linked To Graphic Video Of Abused Chickens
By 8.11.16
Tyson Foods, the largest chicken-processing company in the U.S., fired 10 employees after an animal rights group secretly taped workers at four Virginia processing plants mistreating and abusing chickens. [More]
10-Year-Old Boy Dies On “World’s Largest Waterslide”
By 8.8.16
Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, KS, closed Sunday and will remained shuttered on Monday following the death of a 10-year-old boy on the park’s main attraction — The Verruckt. [More]
Ford Recalls 830K Vehicles Because Doors Should Stay Shut When Closed
By 8.4.16
For the better part of two years Ford has been the center of federal safety investigations related to certain sedan doors that just wouldn’t stay shut. This week, the carmaker announced it would recall 830,000 vehicles to replace side door latches in certain states. [More]
Anton Yelchin’s Parents Sue Fiat Chrysler Over Actor’s Death
By 8.2.16
Six weeks after the death of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was potentially linked to the confusing gear shifter in recalled Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler vehicles, the man’s family has filed a wrongful death and product-liability lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler. [More]
