Dieselgate scandal. There are convictions for former group managers

In the criminal trial regarding the so -called Dieselgate, also known as the Volkswagen scandal, the District Court in Braunschwik found four former managers of the company guilty of fraud. Two accused were sentenced to several years in prison, and two others received suspended sentences.

The former head of the Diesel Engine Development Department was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The former head of the power electronics department was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison. A former member of the board for development of the Volkswagen brand received a suspension sentence for a year and three months, and the former head of the department was sentenced to a year and ten months suspended – the DPA agency informed on Monday.

The defense announced the intention to appeal. “The verdict is wrong”said lawyer Philipp Gehrmann after the verdict was announced, quoted by the Ard, Tagesschau station information program.

The original plan assumed that the former director of the Volkswagen Martin Winterkorn group would sit on the bench. However, his participation in the process was suspended before its commencement in September 2021 for health reasons – writes Tagesschau.

The Dieselgate scandal shook the German automotive industry and caused billion damage to the industry. As the concern himself reported, the scandal cost it over EUR 32 billion spent on compensation, exchange of cars and legal costs.

The Dieselgate case broke out in September 2015, when the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that diesel engine control software in the Volkswagen Group cars – to which Audi belongs – intentionally showed a false, low, low emission value of exhaust emissions, masking even 40 times exceeding American standards. The company confessed to these manipulations.

From Berlin Berenik Lemańczyk (PAP)

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