1) This is taken from a complaint in a class action lawsuit. Class action lawyers are very similar to patent trolls whereby they can spin almost any story they want. And journalists go for clicks, so they amplify the sensationalism. It doesn't mean this is one of those, but a class action complaint should not just blindly be trusted.
2) There is a strong theme of "of course execs lie cheat steal at every turn" and I also think this narrative should be questioned. Ethics aside, the level of compliance in a public company is insanely high. Execs are already rich. To risk jailtime, which fraud can lead to, you'd need to see something more existential than slightly increasing margins on used van sales.
I felt inclined to comment as I've been on the other end of articles like this, and it is astounding the level of mind reading people have done into my intent and actions on things that were factually just not true at all. I also truly would find it very difficult to commit a broad organizational fraud even if I wanted to and my company is only 500 people.
If I had to make a prediction, the case is less black and white than it appears, and if there was fraud, it was probably committed at a non-executive level by the person whose P&L was directly tied to these resales. Or, it was done independently by the much smaller leasing company where this was more existential to them. It is highly unlikely to be a Fed Ex executive-level conspiracy.
I'm sure there are a few counter examples, such as say the VW emissions scandal, but I would counter these were the exceptions that proved the rule and in general when the C-level was involved was much higher stakes.
All of us here work at jobs, possibly in very large corporates. Do we see anything illegal going on? I would reckon that >90% of us have gone through our corporate life without ever being a part of anything close to even illegal, at worst we forward something to legal to be extra sure. So if we think corporations are regularly behaving illegally, we all have simultaneously seemed to have lucked out to be in the one the one ethical and legally compliant organization.
If some part of your worldview is that the world is being filled with greedy, selfish and unethical people, constantly trying to screw over others but you are the exception most likely your worldview is completely off (Most people view themselves as the good guy/ hero of their world). In my experience it is very unlikely for anyone in C Suite to ever risk any actual fraud in their dealings (or anyone in the organization really), however lawyers are essentially parasites on society who feed on productive work to make a living while gaslighting rest of society into believing that they’re playing an important role in protecting it.
This line of argument only works if the majority of a company is exposed to illegal behavior.
If a large company can commit (or attempt to commit) illegal behavior, while making that behavior only visible to a small fraction of people, then this argument falls apart.
For example, how many people were involved and aware of the VW emissions scandal? 200? 400? Out if 200,000 worldwide employees. So >99% of VW employees would have likely reported not having observed illegal behavior. That does not mean that those employees “lucked out” into working for an ethical legally-compliant company. It means the company is smart enough to hide its unethical and disreputable behavior from its employees as much as possible.