The Volkswagen Group has largely survived the emissions fraud from a legal point of view, but some of the people responsible have not. In the trial at the Munich Regional Court against former Audi boss Rupert Stadler, the trial against three co-defendants has now been temporarily suspended. The former engine developer Henning L., who had made an extensive confession and appeared as a key witness in the process, has to pay 25,000 euros as a monetary condition to environmental and nature conservation associations. The prosecutor agreed to the appointment.
According to the previous result of the two-and-a-half-year hearing of evidence, L., together with two other accused superiors, had arranged for the fraudulent software to be designed, with which engines only complied with the nitrogen oxide limits on the test bench, but throttled the exhaust aftertreatment on the road. Henning L’s direct superior Giovanni P. made a full confession. He admitted “that in his actions in connection with defeat devices, he had the insight that these could not be in accordance with the law,” he had his defense attorney present. The lawyer emphasized that this was a complete confession.
Stadler: suspected fraud
The court had promised P., Stadler and the co-accused former head of Audi engine development Wolfgang Hatz a suspended sentence if they made full confessions. Stadler and Hatz should comment on this by April 25, said the presiding judge Stefan Weickert. Hatz and Stadler have so far denied any guilt. According to the court, Stadler should have recognized by July 2016 at the latest that fraudulent software could have been used in the cars sold in Europe. But he didn’t follow up and let the sale continue until 2018. Stadler is therefore liable to prosecution for fraud through omission.
(mfz)