GM exec pleads guilty in kickback scam
A former General Motors Corp. executive who fled overseas to avoid prosecution pleaded guilty Thursday to kickback charges in connection with the company's sales of aluminum.
Daniel Bealko, 62, admitted he concealed from the Internal Revenue Service about $6.5 million in kickbacks he received from an accomplice. Federal authorities said Bealko returned to the United States on Wednesday after authorities agreed to drop extradition in exchange for his guilty plea.
Bealko was arrested last year in Liechtenstein and apparently was in the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis when he was indicted in March 2008. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 19.
His accomplice, Anthony Demetrius "Tony" Brown, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. Brown, 48, was a member of Indiana University's 1981 NCAA basketball championship team.
Working with a metals brokerage Brown owned, Bealko took kickbacks for arranging sales of GM's aluminum stockpiles on favorable credit terms.
As part of the plea agreement, Bealko, formerly of Clarkston, Mich., agreed to help get $3.3 million in a Liechtenstein bank account, said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
Under U.S. sentencing guidelines, Bealko would get about 70 months in prison in addition to restitution.