Breaking news and expert analysis on legal and compliance issues
From Products Liability Law Daily, January 11, 2017
By Colleen Kave, J.D.
Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to three criminal felony counts and agreed to pay criminal and civil fines totaling $4.3 billion in connection with a long-running scheme to sell diesel vehicles in the United States equipped with defeat devices designed to cheat government mandated emissions tests. The plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, includes a $2.8 billion criminal fine. VW also agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle civil environmental, customs, and financial violations, and to strengthen its compliance and control systems, including the appointment of an independent monitor for the next three years. The Department of Justice also announced that six VW executives and employees have been indicted for their individual roles in the scandal.
Criminal case. With respect to the criminal charges against Volkswagen, the company was charged with, and plead guilty to, participating in a conspiracy to defraud the United States and U.S. consumers and to violate the Clean Air Act by lying and misleading the EPA and U.S. customers regarding whether certain VW, Audi, and Porsche branded diesel vehicles complied with U.S. emissions standards, using cheating software to circumvent the U.S. testing process, and concealing material facts about its cheating from U.S. regulators. VW was also charged with obstruction of justice for destroying documents related to the scheme, and with a separate crime of importing these cars into the U.S. by means of false statements about the vehicles’ compliance with emissions limits.
Indictments. The six former high-level VW executives who were indicted for participating in the emissions conspiracy are: Richard Dorenkamp, Bernd Gottweis, Jens Hadler, Heinz-Jakob Neusser, Jurgen Peter, and Oliver Schmidt. These key executives all held positions of significant responsibility at VW, including overseeing the company’s engine development division and serving on the company’s management board. According to the charging documents and statement of facts, they abused their power and were charged with a range of crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, violations of the Clean Air Act, and wire fraud.
Civil Settlements. VW also entered into three civil resolutions, consisting of:
Except where based on admissions by VW, the claims resolved by the civil agreements are allegations only.
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