Former GM metals executive pleads guilty to scam

CHICAGO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A former General Motors Co [GM.UL] executive pleaded guilty on Thursday to a kickback scheme involving bulk aluminum sales that cost the automaker some $83 million.

Daniel Bealko pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion, and was ordered held pending sentencing in January. Under his plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Bealko, 62, receive a sentence of 5 years, 10 months in prison.

Bealko was arrested last year in Liechtenstein, and extradition proceedings were dropped once he agreed to return to the United States. He was indicted in March 2008, but at the time was believed to be living in the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis.

As GM's global commodity manager between 1996 and 2003, Bealko was assigned to divest the automaker's extensive bulk aluminum holdings, which he later estimated were worth around $1 billion.

He admitted to conspiring with Chicago-area metals broker Anthony Brown, who has also pleaded guilty, to skim millions of dollars in profits from sales Bealko arranged. Ultimately, Brown's metals brokerage company, Fuci Metals USA, went bankrupt and left GM with $83 million in losses.

In his guilty plea, Bealko said he felt GM had not compensated him adequately.

The plea called for Bealko to forfeit his $6.5 million share of ill-gotten gains and to assist in repatriating $3.3 million held in a bank account in Liechtenstein, to partially compensate GM. (Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Toni Reinhold)