The “Dieselgate” scandal continues. Four former Volkswagen directors have been convicted and 31 other people are still being investigated
Four former Volkswagen managers have been sentenced to Germany in the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal, which has shaken the auto industry since 2015.
The Volkswagen factory in Shanghai, China. Photo shutterstock
Four former directors of the Volkswagen car manufacturer were convicted by a court in the German city of Braunschweig, in the process related to the scandal of manipulation of emissions, known as “Dieselgate”. The largest punishment is four years and six months in prison, and two of the sentences are suspended, The Guardian reports.
Among those convicted are the former development director Heinz-Jakob Neusser, who received a one-year and three-month sentence with suspension. Another former responsible, Hanno J., who drove the electronics division, was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison.
Jens H., was responsible for the development of diesel engines, received the hardest punishment, four and a half years of detention. The fourth defendant was sentenced to one year and ten months with suspension. All four have the right to appeal.
What is “dieselgate”
The scandal broke out in 2015, when the US Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of installing software that falsify the results of emissions tests, because, in reality, diesel cars exceeded the legal pollution limits under real traffic conditions.
The Volkswagen group was forced to pay over $ 33 billion in fines and compensation. In the US, several directors were convicted, and the former head of the Audi Division, Rupert Stadler, received a 21 -month suspended sentence and a fine of 1.1 million euros.
The trial of the four convicts began in 2021, and initially to include the former general manager Martin Winterkorn, but due to his health, the procedure against him was suspended, and a possible judgment remains uncertain.
The German authorities are still investigating 31 people in this file.
Between the parallel, the Volkswagen car manufacturer is trying to reduce the effects caused by the image blow he has suffered and convince investors that such practices are related to the past. The group has transmitted that these procedures are targeting only individuals and does not directly affect the current civil disputes in which the company is a party.
“The procedures at the Braunschweig Court are directed against natural persons and” have not had a significant impact on the civil cases where Volkswagen is a part “VW representatives transmitted.
