The Nation - News from Oct. 6, 1986

Former auto magnate John Z. DeLorean, 61, goes on trial today in U.S. District Court in Detroit on 15 federal charges, including racketeering and wire and tax fraud. The indictment accuses DeLorean of swindling investors in a complicated international money-laundering scheme. Up to $18 million in research and development funds is unaccounted for, the indictment charges. Two years ago, DeLorean was acquitted of cocaine smuggling in a federal court trial in Los Angeles, partly because the jury believed he was set up by the government. Los Angeles attorney Howard Weitzman said the Detroit case is the government’s revenge for failing to convict DeLorean.