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Former UAW official gets 15 months in labor corruption case

DETROIT (Reuters) - A federal judge in Detroit on Monday sentenced the former United Auto Workers union vice president in charge of relations with Fiat Chrysler to 15 months in federal prison for misusing funds intended for worker training to pay for luxury travel, golf, liquor and parties for himself and other union officials. Norwood Jewell, 61, who led the UAW's national contract negotiations with Fiat Chrysler in 2015, is the highest ranking UAW official to be sentenced in connection with a wide-ranging federal investigation of corruption within the union that represents U.S. factory workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors and Ford. Jewell pleaded guilty in April to a single charge of violating the Labor Relations Management Act. At the time, prosecutors proposed a prison sentence of 12 to 18 months. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman rejected Jewell's request to avoid prison and serve his sentence under house arrest. "He betrayed his position," Borman said from the bench. Jewell is the eighth former UAW or Fiat Chrysler official sentenced as part of the federal criminal investigation of UAW finances. Federal prosecutors are continuing to investigate the misuse of company and union funds at the Detroit automakers. Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Mike Manley, during a meeting with reporters last week, declined to discuss whether the company is in talks with federal authorities or whether he has been interviewed by investigators. Federal prosecutors have said Fiat Chrysler officials conspired in the misuse of $4.5 million in training center funds. Fiat Chrysler's former vice president of labor relations, Alphons Iacobelli, pleaded guilty in January 2018 to charges of violating the Labor Management Relations Act and filing false tax returns. Prosecutors charged Iacobelli with making hundreds of thousands of dollars in improper payments to charities controlled by UAW officials, and agreeing to pay off the mortgage of a now-deceased UAW vice president, General Holiefield. Prosecutors said Jewell accepted over $90,000 in illegal payments from Fiat Chrysler for his own benefit and to pay for travel, golf outings, parties and other entertainment for senior UAW leaders. "The parties included thousands of dollars in Fiat Chrysler money spent on 20 boxes of cigars, ultra-premium liquor, personalized bottles of wine, and women paid to light the cigars of senior UAW leaders," federal prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.

GM seeks appeals court ruling to continue legal fight with Fiat Chrysler

DETROIT — General Motors on Friday asked a U.S. appeals court to allow it to continue pursuing its civil racketeering suit against rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, rejecting a lower court judge's belittling of the complaint. The automaker's filing with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals comes less than a week after U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman called GM's suit against Fiat Chrysler a "waste of time and resources" at a time when both automakers should be focused on surviving the coronavirus pandemic. Borman ordered GM Chief Executive Mary Barra and Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley to meet by July 1 to negotiate a resolution. "As we have said from the date this lawsuit was filed, it is meritless," FCA said on Friday. "FCA will continue to defend itself vigorously and pursue all available remedies in response to GM's groundless lawsuit. We stand ready to comply with Judge Borman's order," it added. In its motion, GM asked the appeals court to throw out Borman's order and reassign the case to a different district court judge. It called Borman's order "unprecedented" and "a profound abuse" of judicial power. GM sued Fiat Chrysler last year, accusing the Italian-American company's executives of bribing United Auto Workers union officials to secure labor agreements that put GM at a disadvantage. Fiat Chrysler is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department as part of a wide-ranging probe of UAW corruption. GM's accusations came as Fiat Chrysler and French automaker Peugeot were in the early stages of preparing for a merger. Fiat Chrysler has said the suit was aimed at disrupting that deal. GM has said the suit has nothing to do with the merger. In a statement, GM rejected Borman's characterization of the suit as a "distraction" and defended its decision to press the case. "We filed a lawsuit against FCA for the same reason the U.S. Department of Justice continues to investigate the company: former FCA executives admitted they conspired to use bribes to gain labor benefits, concessions and advantages. Based on the direct harm to GM these actions caused, we believe FCA must be held accountable." Related Video: Government/Legal UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat GM

Who are Mike Manley, Louis Camilleri, and Suzanne Heywood?

MILAN – Fiat Chrysler aid on Saturday that boss Sergio Marchionne, 66, would not be returning to work because he was gravely ill. In addition to being FCA chief executive, Marchionne was also CEO and chairman of luxury sports car brand Ferrari and chairman of truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial, which were spun off from FCA in recent years. Following is a brief summary on the executives who have been appointed to replace him in the various roles: MIKE MANLEY The 54-year-old Briton picked to become the FCA's new CEO has been leading the group's top brand Jeep since 2009, first as Jeep President and CEO at Chrysler and then as FCA's Jeep head. In 2015 he was also appointed head of the Ram brand. Under his tenure, Jeep turned into a global brand becoming, together with Ram, FCA's profit engine. Jeep sold nearly 1.4 million cars last year compared with less than 338,000 in 2009. Manley had worked as DaimlerChrysler's head of network development in Britain since 2000, having earlier worked for several years in car dealership. At Chrysler, he headed product planning and all sales activities outside of North America and then became the group's chief operating officer for Asia and the lead executive for the international activities outside of NAFTA. LOUIS CAMILLERI The new Ferrari CEO was already a board member at the luxury sportscar maker before his latest appointment. He is also the chairman of Philip Morris International, where he also held the job of CEO from 2008 to 2013. Born in 1955, Camilleri had joined Altria Group, which controls Philip Morris, in 1978 holding various positions until he became chief financial officer in 1996 and then CEO in 2002. Camilleri was also chairman of Kraft Foods from 2002 to 2007. Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wished Camilleri luck on Twitter saying he was proud to have "a bit of Malta in Ferrari" thanks to the new CEO, who was born in Egypt to Maltese parents. SUZANNE HEYWOOD The new, British-born chairwoman of CNH Industrial has been since 2016 the managing director of EXOR, the holding company through which the Agnelli family controls FCA. Heywood, 49, started her career at the British Treasury and then joined McKinsey in 1997, leading for many years the consultancy firm's global service line on organization design. She eventually became a senior partner there. Heywood sits on the board of The Economist, which is controlled by EXOR, and the board of the Royal Opera House, where she is also deputy chair.