Ex-Volkswagen boss on trial over diesel cars rigged to cheat emissions tests

Former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn went on trial last week on charges of fraud and market manipulation in connection with the corporate scandal over Volkswagen’s use of rigged software that allowed millions of cars to cheat emissions tests and emit high levels of harmful pollutants.

Prosecutors say Winterkorn knew about the illegal software long before the US Environmental Protection Agency announced the discovery of the breach in September 2015. He resigned days later.

He said he learned of the practice shortly before the announcement and testified earlier during civil proceedings that the allegations against him were “not correct.”

Winterkorn’s lawyer, Felix Doerr, said ahead of the court proceedings in Braunschweig on Tuesday that “our client categorically denies the allegations against him”. He said Winterkorn’s position as CEO was no justification for making him responsible for the scandal in all its aspects.

Winterkorn, 77, was due to stand trial in 2021 with four other VW executives, but his case was postponed due to health problems.

The diesel scandal had far-reaching consequences for the company and the auto industry. Volkswagen ended up paying more than 31 billion euros ($34 billion) in fines and legal settlements. Sales of diesel cars, once favored for their fuel efficiency over petrol vehicles, have declined as a share of the car market in Europe.

Winterkorn faces three separate sets of charges: defrauding car buyers by selling cars with illegal software, manipulating the stock market by failing to disclose necessary information to investors and making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry in 2017. He faces up to 10 years. in prison if convicted.

In the complex case, court hearings are scheduled until September 2025. The fraud indictment alone has grown to 692 pages, including the other four defendants, while the case file consists of 300 volumes with 75,000 pages of supporting documents.

Prosecutors alleged in their indictment that Winterkorn knew about the problem by at least May 2014, but continued to allow the practice and allowed the rigged cars to be sold. They say the software has appeared in Volkswagen cars in Europe and the US since 2006.

The software enabled emissions controls during testing, then reduced them during daily driving, allowing the cars to emit more than permitted levels of nitrogen oxide. Nitrous oxide can irritate people’s airways and contribute to the development of asthma.

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