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Car Forum / Antique and Collectibles / Studebaker / August 2005Bribery? (OT?)
Since Studebaker brought Mercedes to the U.S. market, I guess it's not totally off topic? Maybe we now know why Studebaker and Mercedes stayed at arm's length of each other. Studebaker was very helpful to Mercedes, helping them learn what was needed to sell cars in the U.S. Studebaker marketing also helped build the Mercedes image as a luxury car. My Dad worked at Roth Plating in the late 50's, and helped replate many of the shipping damaged Mercedes bumpers on the cars imported through South Bend. REPORT: U.S. investigating alleged DaimlerChrysler bribes Reuters / August 05, 2005 NEW YORK -- U.S. prosecutors are pursuing a criminal investigation of allegations that DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes unit paid bribes in at least a dozen countries and that senior executives may have been aware of the practice, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The newspaper, citing people familiar with the case, said the Justice Department investigation is an escalation of a civil inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission that was disclosed late last year. The earlier inquiry was triggered by a former Chrysler accountant in Detroit who alleged in a lawsuit last year that the company kept dozens of secret bank accounts to bribe foreign officials, the Journal said. German federal authorities joined the investigation after the July 22 suicide of Rudi Kornmayer, managing director of the company's plant in Nigeria, it reported. The Journal said the 53-year-old executive shot himself in a park in Esslingen, Germany, according to police As far as bribery in Nigeria goes, I understand it's a way of life. Nigeria is frequently named as the most corrupt nation on the planet - they have folks whose job is to take the bribes, and folks to watch the bribe-takers. I have a good friend who was born there, and everytime he visits, his mother reminds him to "take at least $1000 in U.S. dollars for bribes". > As far as bribery in Nigeria goes, I understand it's a way of life. > Nigeria is frequently named as the most corrupt nation on the planet - > they have folks whose job is to take the bribes, and folks to watch the > bribe-takers. I have a good friend who was born there, and everytime he > visits, his mother reminds him to "take at least $1000 in U.S. dollars > for bribes". Bribery is common in most third world nations. While working on Diego Garcia in 1992, I had an opportunity to travel with a propositioned jet fuel tanker on a trip to Sri Lanka where it would replenish its bunker oil stock. It was a great opportunity to get away from the typical guv'ment operational idiocy for a week and ended up being a great learning experience as well. Shortly before docking in Colombo, the captain mentioned that I should pay close attention too the myriad of "customs" agents that would come aboard. Every one of these guys had a big briefcase (that was empty). As they left the ship, every briefcase was bulging with booty that ranged from cokes, to toothpaste and galley goodies. I was the most amazing scene that I had witnessed for some time. As countries advance the corruption factor seems to go down. For instance, no outward evidence presented itself to me whenever I visited Singapore but go to Manila, different story. This country is pretty well corruption free when compared with the world as a whole... JT I dated a girl in college 20 years ago who's parents were employed in Nigeria, and she was raised there. What you say is true according to what she explained to me. That's why I didn't fall for the first e-mail I got asking to buy a car I had for sale, if I cashed a certified check drawn on the First National Bank of Nigeria, etc. :-). Kornmayer doesn't sound Nigerian to me, though. And even if it is, that leaves 11 other nations and dozens of other bank accounts to be explained to the SEC and German Federals. Why commit suicide if it's a generally accepted practice? Another troubling piece of history is that suicide is nothing new in Daimler's executive ranks. In the early 1990's, several Daimler acquisitions were floundering badly (among which was Fokker Aircraft, which Daimler ended up liquidating). Juergen Schrempp rose to power through a series of events during which a former Daimler Chairman committed suicide. Ironically, Schrempp had been an architect of the acquisitions that led to the problems! Daimler returned to profitability after that period due to a resurgence at Mercedes, not due to the acquisitions. The people who brought Mercedes up were not Schrempp's people, either. In fact, not only did Chrysler lose it's independence in Schrempp's DCX drama, Mercedes did too. Previous to the "merger", Mercedes could make decisions independent of the Daimler Supervisory Board. Not so today. None of those early 1990's Daimler acquisitions were American. Daimler-Benz was not NYSE listed then either, so the pesky SEC didn't have to get involved. But now???, seeing how Schrempp announced his departure last Thursday????????? This could be a little more involved than your average, everyday, run of the mill Nigerian bribe. I guess I shouldn't be so tough, because Studebaker had one executive suicide (Albert Erskine) before entering receivership during the 1930's. But the coincidence is worth noting. Even if it is just nothing. I guess if the story turns out to be bigger, you can say you saw it here first! Maybe it was a Rommel-style suicide, nicht wahr? Gord Richmond |
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