Jan. 17, 2017—United States prosecutors revealed on Friday that they charged three Takata Corporation executives with fabricating test data to mask the fatal airbag defect.
Prosecutors also stated that the company had agreed to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud for providing the false data, according to a report from the New York Times. The company was also fined $1 billion.
The airbags, which can rupture violently when they deploy, have been linked to at least 11 deaths and more than 180 injuries in the U.S.
The indictment stipulates that the executives knew as early as 2000 that the airbags’ metal inflators could explode, prosecutors said.
The reports also noted that federal prosecutors charged six Volkswagen executives for their roles in an emissions-cheating scandal, and the automaker pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and other crimes.
The executives, Shinichi Tanaka, Hideo Nakajima and Tsuneo Chikaraishi, were indicted by a grand jury in December. The accusations were unsealed on Friday.
