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About POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)

The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

General Motors Corp.

Breach of Contract

Date: 07/21/2000 (Date of Judgment)

Misconduct Type: Non-governmental Contract Fraud

Enforcement Agency: Non-Governmental

Contracting Party: Non-Governmental

Court Type: Civil

Amount: $181,500,000

Disposition: Judgment Against Defendant

Synopsis: In 1995, DIRECTV, then a subsidiary of General Motors, entered into a contract with General Electric Capital Corporation (GECC) “in which GECC agreed to establish and manage a private label consumer credit program for consumer purchases of hardware and related DIRECTV programming… A complaint and counterclaim were filed by the parties in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut concerning GECC's performance and DIRECTV's obligation to act as a surety… On July 21, 2000, the jury returned a verdict in favor of GECC and awarded contract damages in the amount of $133.0 million. The trial judge issued a order granting GECC $48.5 million in interest under Connecticut's offer-of- judgment statute. With this order, the total judgment entered in GECC's favor was $181.5 million.”