Rupert Stadler, the former boss of German automaker Audi, has expressed his willingness to confess to the “diesel scandal” trial, which has been going on since September 2020. The top manager and his lawyers at a land court meeting in Munich on Wednesday, May 3, said they accepted the court’s corresponding proposal. In accordance with this, Stadler pleads guilty and receives in exchange for a suspended sentence of a maximum of 2 years, and will also have to pay a fine of 1.1 million euros.
The prosecution also accepted this proposal. Stadler must make a confession within two weeks. The verdict is expected in the coming weeks. Earlier, Stadler faced a sentence of 1.5 to 2 years in prison.
Trial in the case of the former boss of Audi
In 2019, the former boss of Audi, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, was charged with fraud, falsifying certificates and advertising containing false information. Moreover, he has been accused of continuing to sell “manipulated cars” with diesel engines long after the discovery of manipulation of software that regulates harmful emissions from diesel engines. According to the investigation, the head of the company found out about these manipulations no later than the end of September 2015, but ordered that Audi and Volkswagen cars continue to be sold, or at least not interfere with their sale. In addition, the investigation starts from the fact that Stadler tried to influence the witnesses and defendants in the case of manipulation.
Besides Stadler, charges have been brought against three former employees who, according to investigators, developed diesel engines for Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche cars with electronic control units equipped with illegal software to underestimate harmful emissions. It has been installed on more than 250,000 Audis, 72,000 Volkswagens and 112,000 Porsches, mostly sold in the United States and Europe, according to prosecutors.
The top manager denied the fraud allegations for more than 160 days of hearings. In June 2018 Stadler, who had led Audi since 2007, was arrested and released in October pending an investigation. The “diesel scandal” began in 2015, when US authorities discovered that Volkswagen deliberately underestimated data on the content of harmful substances in diesel engine exhaust.
Source: delfi
