Shock disclosure halts DC trial

By: CAR magazine

The emergence of previously-unseen documents belonging to Chrysler executive Gary Valade has stopped the sensational case between DaimlerChrysler and Las Vegas tycoon Kirk Kerkorian.

The emergence of previously-unseen documents belonging to Chrysler executive Gary Valade has stopped the sensational trial between DaimlerChrysler and Las Vegas tycoon Kirk Kerkorian.


CARtoday.com recently reported that Kerkorian claimed the 1998 merger was nothing more than a takeover by Daimler-Benz, and says that he and other shareholders were cheated out of R41,6 billion. He wants R6,5 billion and the DaimlerChrysler merger to be undone.


However, DaimlerChrysler chairman Juergen Schrempp said merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler was good for both firms and countered allegations he and other executives tricked shareholders into accepting a stock-for-stock deal allegedly worth R38 to R57 billion more than was paid.


Now, 61 pages of papers have been unearthed that belong to Chrysler executive Gary Valade, who is about to retire. Some pages seem to give weight to Kerkorian’s claims, with phrases such as “loss of independence” and “senior management sold out”.


DaimlerChrysler said that Valade had handed over the documents to attorneys, as he was required. Lawyers didn’t realise they hadn’t seen all the documents until Monday, however, when Valade asked a DaimlerChrysler attorney whether he would be questioned about a particular page the following day.


DC legal staff then admitted that they had not shown Kerkorian’s lawyers all of the relevant material, but maintained that the initial non-disclosure was simply an oversight.


This prompted Judge Joseph Farnan Jr to put the notes under seal and stopped the trial, possibly until early January, ordering a hearing to find out “how [the trial] got into this mess.”

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