The Latest: Takata pleads guilty to fraud in air bag case

FILE - In this May 4, 2016, file photo, visitors walk by a Takata Corp. desk at an automaker's showroom in Tokyo. Japanese auto parts maker Takata Corp. is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, to a criminal charge and agree to a $1 billion penalty for concealing a deadly air bag inflator problem. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)

By Associated Press February 27, 2017 2 min read

DETROIT (AP) – The Latest on Takata’s guilty plea in an investigation of dangerous air bags (all times local):

3:40 p.m.

Japanese auto parts maker Takata Corp. has pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and agreed to pay $1 billion for a scheme to conceal a deadly defect in millions of its air bag inflators.

Takata admits to hiding problems that can cause inflators to explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. U.S. prosecutors still are seeking extradition of three former Takata executives from Japan to face criminal charges.

Detroit federal Judge George Caram Steeh accepted a guilty plea to a fraud charge Monday.