2023-05-16 06:44:53
For years, the former Audi boss had protested his innocence in the fraud process surrounding the diesel scandal. Now his confession is expected.
In the fraud process involving manipulated diesel exhaust values, which has been going on for two and a half years, a confession from former Audi boss Rupert Stadler is expected today before the Munich Regional Court.
The manager, who was also a member of the VW Group board, announced this in early May. Before that, the court had promised him a suspended sentence if he made a comprehensive confession and paid 1.1 million euros. The public prosecutor’s office has already agreed to this agreement.
If the announced confession comes, it would be the first of a VW Group board member in the criminal investigation of one of the largest German industrial scandals. Cars with diesel engines had been manipulated with an automatic switch-off in such a way that they did comply with emission limits on the test bench, but not on the road. The aim was to avoid the time-consuming subsequent installation of larger Adblue tanks for exhaust gas cleaning.
Without a confession, you face imprisonment
Stadler is not accused of having arranged for the manipulation of the cars. However, according to the indictment, he allowed the sale of these vehicles to continue until the beginning of 2018, although he had recognized earlier that the exhaust gas values could have been manipulated. Stadler had denied this for years, saying he had been duped by his technicians. At the end of March, however, the court made it clear that Stadler faced a prison sentence if he did not confess.
After a confession, the process could end relatively quickly. Because Stadler’s co-defendants, the former head of Audi engine development, Wolfgang Hatz, and two of his senior engineers, who are accused of involvement in the manipulation, have already confessed. The proceedings against one of them, who appeared early as a key witness, have already been discontinued. The other two are also facing suspended sentences. The court has named June as a possible period for the verdict.
Stadler became Audi boss in 2007, succeeding Martin Winterkorn. When the US authorities uncovered the trickery in VW diesel engines at the end of 2015, and a little later also in large Audi diesel engines in models for the US market, he thought he was safe for a long time. Then came the crash: in 2018, Stadler was held in custody for four months because of the risk of collusion. If it comes to the announced confession, he will at least be spared a return to prison in all likelihood. (dpa)
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