Chinese firm to pay $91M over dangerous dehumidifiers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Chinese company that sold millions of faulty dehumidifiers to U.S. customers will pay $91 million for failing to tell regulators the devices could overheat and catch fire. The U.S. attorney’s office announced Friday that Gree Electric Appliances and its Hong Kong subsidiary submitted to an agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court. Gree sold more than 2 million dehumidifiers in the U.S. between 2007 and 2013 under various brand names. The devices were blamed for some 450 fires. Prosecutors say Gree knew the dehumidifiers were defective but waited months to report problems and finally recall them.