Toyota Mulls Exporting Century Nameplate
When Toyota Motor Corp. originally exported its cars to the U.S. in the 1960s, its economy models competed with American autos from American Motors, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors under the Toyota brand. By 1989, it was successful enough to introduce a luxury nameplate for the U.S. market: Lexus, which competed with high-end German makes like BMW and Mercedes Benz. When TMC Chairman Akio Toyoda was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame last month in Detroit, he arrived up in a nameplate rarely seen on these shores: a Century, driving speculation that TMC may start exporting to the U.S. its ultimate high-end nameplate to compete against the automotive world’s top luxury brands — think Rolls-Royce. In Japan, the limited Century line has been reserved for domestic-only use by top corporate bosses, top politicians and members of Japan’s royal family. Century models boast being partially handmade — and come with a pricetag of about $170,000.
N.Y. Times Exec Slain; Calif. Couple Arrested
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, of the Bay Area town of Dublin, Calif., have been arraigned on numerous charges after they were arrested following allegedly ambushing and shooting to death their son-in-law, Jonathan McKinsey, 40, on the afternoon of Sept. 26 at Dublin Sports Grounds. He was the New York Times’ director of engineering for its games department. Zhang and Chen are the parents of McKinsey’s wife, Candice Jang. They had three children together before beginning divorce and child-custody proceedings.
According to published reports, the elderly couple are alleged to have each taken turns shooting McKinsey in the venue’s parking lot. McKinsey and Jang, who were married in 2011, had a relationship that involved suicide attempts by McKinsey and allegations that McKinsey had struck their then-6-year-old son in the face. He had pleaded not guilty to a pair of charges of misdemeanor child abuse and had accused his ex-wife and her parents of abusing him for being a transgender man. He had accused Jang’s father of punching him in the chest years ago following double-mastectomy procedure
Asian Hall of Fame Reveals 2026 Inductees
Former Dodgers pitching ace Hideo Nomo was among the Class of 2026 Medalists for the organization’s upcoming event, with the preshow beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Los Angeles. Joining Nomo: Miky Lee, Centennial Medal of Lifetime Achievement; Sophie Chang, Humanitarian Service Medal of Honor; and Lynn and Steve Valbuena, Rich Le Roy and Sabrina Castaneda, Heritage Excellence Medal. Inductees are Dave Lu, managing partner, Hyphen Capital; Dr. Charles Huang, founder & chairman, Pasaca Capital Inc.; Frank Buckley, KTLA 5 news anchor; Jessica Sanchez, 2025 winner, “America’s Got Talent”; Jerry and Charlene Lee, philanthropists; Kitty Lo, chair, MHG; Lisa Lu, cinema trailblazer; Maggie Tseng, founder & CEO, TAO; Rosé of Blackpink, Simran Baidwan, Emmy-winning executive producer; Din Tai Fung, Global Family Legacy inductee; TSMC, Corporate Tech inductee; Dennis Quaid and Robert Vargas, goodwill ambassadors; and LAPD Detective Sharon Kim, Advocacy Prize. Serving as master of ceremonies will be KCBS anchor Suzie Suh.
Man Charged With Smuggling Tech to China
The Department of Justice announced that Greg Lui, 38, of San Gabriel, Calif., was arrested on Oct. 1 “on a three-count federal indictment charging him with smuggling to China more than $300 million worth of export-controlled high-end computer servers” containing Nvidia graphics processing units. The GPUs are used for artificial intelligence. Lui, aka Yiu Kong Lui, was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, one count of outbound smuggling and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Lui, CEO of City of Industry-based Earthmade Computer Inc., and his co-conspirators provided, according to the DoJ, “false documentation to U.S.-based manufacturers that misrepresented that the items would be going to permissible end users and end destinations that did not require an export license.” If convicted, Lui faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy count, 20 years in federal prison on the money laundering count and 10 years in federal prison on the smuggling count. The DoJ also released information that Chinese nationals Jin Fu Wei, 44 of Guangxi Province, China, and Xiaodan Lei, 47, of Henan Province, China, were charged for allegedly presenting U.S. passports belonging to other people when they tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico.
Twins Plead Guilty to Golf-Related Tax Evasion
Brothers Se Youn “Steve” Kim, 42, of Buena Park, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of subscribing to a false tax return, and Hee Youn “Ted” Kim, 42, of Pomona, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion after being busted for failing to report more than $1.3 million of income derived from a running a golf tee-time brokering business.
Duly Noted: NAPABA Honors Cecillia Wang
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Assn. announced that its Inspire Awardee is American Civil Liberties Union National Legal Director Cecillia Wang. Described as its “most selective honor,” the Inspire Award has only been awarded three times previously, to former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye; actor-activist George Takei; and corporate legal icon Don Liu.
— P.C. Staff