Penalties of up to four years in prison were required this Friday, April 25, in the trial of four former Volkswagen officials accused of fraud in the case of manipulated diesel engines that stirred the image of the manufacturer.
In this trial, which began in September 2021 before the Brunswick Court (Northwest), the Prosecutor’s Office required three years against Heinz-Jakob Nezient, former Technical Development Manager of the Volkswagen brand, AFP learned from a source close to the trial.
Jens H., former executive of the VW engines division, runs the risk of four years in prison, against three years for Hanno J., one of the engineers responsible for the development of illegal software and two years suspended by another engineer, Richard D., even according to the same source. The Brunswick court communicated the scope of the sentences but without specifying who should apply.
“Organized gang fraud”
These former leaders are prosecuted for “gang fraud organized” in relation to this world scandal that exploded in September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted to having manipulated millions of diesel vehicles to deceive antipolution tests.
The former emblematic chief of the Volkswagen Empire, Martin Winterkorn, is proved to a different criminal trial that began until last year due to his health problems. It also runs the risk of a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
In the trial of the four former Volkswagen officials, it remains to be heard the allegations of the defense lawyers, before the defendants had the last word.
“Everything suggests that a verdict will be returned in May,” said a judicial source close to the file to the AFP.
32 billion euros in fines already paid by the company
The only senior leader of Volkswagen tried to date, the former CEO of Audi Rupert Stadler was sentenced in June 2023 to a suspended prison sentence and a fine of 1.1 million euros.
Regarding the mistakes made as a business, Volkswagen claims to have “assumed their responsibilities” in Dieselgate, paying more than 32 billion euros in fines to date, the greatest participation in the United States.
On Friday, Frankfurt’s prosecution (West) said he had inflicted almost 250 million euros in fines as part of Dieselgate. These sanctions have been addressed to several equipment manufacturers and manufacturers whose name has not been revealed.
Source: BFM TV
