Ex-VW CEO Winterkorn to Face Diesel Fraud Trial
Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn will face charges of conspiracy to commit organized commercial fraud with a high likelihood of conviction, a court probing the carmaker’s diesel emissions scandal said on Wednesday.
A court in Braunschweig, Germany, near where Volkswagen is
headquartered, expanded the list of charges beyond fraud to include organized
commercial fraud, preliminary remarks published by the court at the start of
the trial showed.
Winterkorn and other Volkswagen executives face charges for
their role in allowing diesel cars with illegal emissions-masking software to
hit the road.
Because Volkswagen vehicles had higher pollution levels than
was declared, they should have been subject to higher road tax, and former
Volkswagen executives should therefore also face charges of tax evasion and
false advertising, the court added.
The scandal, which was uncovered by US authorities in
September 2015, has cost Volkswagen more than 30 billion euros ($35 billion) in
refits, legal fees and settlements, and resulted in a drastic management and
strategy overhaul.
A lawyer for Winterkorn said his client denied the charges.
The accusations against Winterkorn are limited in scope and relate to a
specific instance in time, the lawyer added.
Volkswagen said that while it was no longer the target of
prosecutors after settling charges, it wanted to emphasize that all of the
accused were innocent until proven guilty.
Volkswagen also said it had taken extensive measures to
change processes, systems and controls to improve compliance in the wake of the
emissions scandal.
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