News items from the world of fixed operations

Former GM CEO invests in mobile-service company

Former General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is investing in and advising YourMechanic, a Silicon Valley provider of mobile vehicle service and repairs.

The company, which connects owners with a network of mechanics who come to them, announced Wagoner's involvement this month. It closed $10.2 million in funding that included an investment by the former GM executive, who led the Detroit automaker from June 2000 through March 2009.

YourMechanic says it has 1.3 million vehicles on its service platform, across more than 5,000 communities in the United States and Canada. It offers more than 800 repair, maintenance and diagnostic services, including oil changes and replacements of brake pads, starters and other parts.

The private company, founded in 2012, plans to use its latest funding to expand services, including international operations, according to a release. It declined to disclose how much Wagoner invested.

-- Michael Wayland

Manager jailed for parts theft from dealership

A former parts manager at a New York dealership is serving a one-year jail term for stealing parts from his employer and selling them online in a scheme that prosecutors said amounted to more than $231,000.

John Labarbera, 50, pilfered inventory from Curry Acura of Scarsdale from May 2011 through March 2015, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said. Labarbera pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and agreed to make full restitution. When he was sentenced in July, prosecutors said he had repaid half the amount of his profit from the thefts.

Prosecutors provided this account: Labarbera persuaded his bosses to let him sell dealership parts on the eBay online marketplace. He opened a separate, personal account to auction off inventory he diverted from Curry Acura’s parts desk and pocketed the proceeds.

Labarbera shipped the parts to eBay buyers through the dealership’s FedEx Ground account and collected payments via PayPal that he kept. To conceal the stolen parts, Labarbera tampered with his dealership’s inventory and financial records and accounting system. Dealership officials notified police when they discovered irregularities in those records.

Curry Acura is owned by Curry Automotive Group. Bob Carinci, the group’s COO, declined to comment.

Labarbera’s lawyer, Murray Richman of New York, said his client “acknowledges that he made a mistake and he looks forward to the time when he can correct it.”

Through a spokesman, eBay declined comment on the parts theft scheme.

-- Anisa Jibrell