Millions of emissions fraud
Martin Winterkorn will be tried in the fall
March 15, 2024, 1:04 p.m
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The former VW CEO is threatened with a high fine because of suspicion of fraud and because he is said to have failed to inform investors in a timely manner about Volkswagen’s emissions manipulations. Winterkorn has to prepare for at least a year of court hearings.
Former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn will have to stand trial in Braunschweig from September because of the diesel scandal. The main hearing will begin on September 3rd, the Braunschweig regional court announced. The proceedings on suspicion of fraud and false statements and the proceedings on suspicion of market manipulation are combined. Initially, 89 negotiation dates are planned until September 2025.
The latter procedure was resumed at the end of 2023. Accordingly, Winterkorn is said to have failed to inform the capital market in a timely manner in 2015 about mass emissions manipulation of diesel engines. These resulted in claims for damages and fines amounting to billions for the group. The indictment accuses Winterkorn of knowingly not informing investors about the installation of an illegal shutdown device, even though he was obliged to do so under the Securities Trading Act.
The proceedings were initially discontinued in 2021 with reference to the fraud proceedings. The court argued at the time that since Winterkorn had to expect a high penalty anyway because of the accusation of commercial and gang fraud, the manipulation proceedings were of no consequence. Now the ex-VW boss is supposed to answer for the two allegations.
Winterkorn denies guilt
About a month ago, Winterkorn denied criminal responsibility for the emissions manipulation. “I think these allegations are inaccurate,” he said in February as a witness in the multi-billion dollar civil lawsuit brought by investors before the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court. “If I had been given a complete picture of the internal processes in the responsible departments, I would not have hesitated to tackle the processes directly and clarify them.”
In 2015, under pressure from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Volkswagen admitted that it had manipulated diesel emissions values using software. This ensured that the engines met the nitrogen oxide limits on the test bench, but emitted many times more of these toxic exhaust gases on the road. The scandal triggered a large number of lawsuits. In June, the former head of the Volkswagen subsidiary Audi, Rupert Stadler, was sentenced by the Munich regional court to a suspended sentence and a fine worth millions.