The Big Squeak

Last week the Chrysler Corp. knew how a car owner feels when everything goes wrong with his new car at once. The rattles began with the forced resignation of President William C. Newburg (TIME, July u), who was discovered to have owned interests in Press Products Inc. and the Bonan Corp., both Chrysler suppliers. The rattles show no sign of going away. Company auditors were investigating just about everyone in Chrysler's top echelon in search of financial links to Chrysler's suppliers. Irate stockholders, spurred on by the poorest first-half earnings of the big three automakers, threatened to sue the company. Tipsters--often ex-employees with imaginary gripes against Chrysler--flooded the front office with charges against dozens of executives. Moaned one Chrysler official: "The jackals are after us."

The investigations have already circled around another high Chrysler executive. Jack Minor, marketing director of the Plymouth-De Soto-Valiant division, admitted that he was a principal owner and director until early this year of a Detroit company called Taxi-Ads, into which Chrysler has paid several hundred thousand dollars for advertising during the last eight years. Detroit insiders think that Minor may be the next to go. If he does, he probably will not be the last. From Washington came word that the Securities and Exchange Commission is studying the Newburg case to determine whether anyone violated SEC proxy regulations by not listing holdings in firms supplying Chrysler.

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