2023-06-27 09:24:38
The former CEO of Audi was sentenced on Tuesday June 27 in Germany to a 21-month suspended prison sentence in the case of the “Dieselgate” as well as a fine of 1.1 million euros, becoming the first leader of the Volkswagen group to receive a criminal sanction in the scandal of the rigged diesel engines.
Rupert Stadler, former boss of the firm with the rings between 2007 and 2018, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, had decided to plead guilty after more than two years of trial in Munich. He was accused of knowing about the installation of illegal software without intervening to stop it.
The 60-year-old former leader had disputed the charges since the start of the investigation and throughout the hearings which began in September 2020. But he finally agreed in May to admit his guilt, on the proposal of the court, for benefit from a sentence less severe than the ten years in prison incurred.
Handling vehicle engines
The “Dieselgate” caused a worldwide scandal and heavily tarnished the reputation of the German automobile industry. In 2015, following accusations from the US Environmental Agency (EPA), Volkswagen admitted to having fitted 11 million engines of the type « EA 189 » on its diesel vehicles with software capable of making them appear less polluting during laboratory tests and on the road.
Rupert Stadler’s two co-defendants in this trial, a former director at Audi and Porsche, Wolfgang Hatz, and his right-hand man at Audi, Giovanni Pamio, have confessed to having manipulated vehicle engines so that the legal values of exhaust gases are met when tested on a bridge, but not on the road.
The “dieselgate” is causing a stir in France
They were sentenced on Tuesday respectively to two years in prison suspended with a fine of €400,000 for the first and 21 months in prison suspended with a fine of €50,000 for the second.
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