Will Rupert Stadler make a confession after all? The pressure on the former Audi boss has grown: The former head of Audi engine development, Wolfgang Hatz (64), had already made a comprehensive confession the day before. It is true that he had the forbidden control software installed, which led to falsified diesel exhaust gas values, he had his lawyers explain. Two of his senior engineers had previously made a confession.
And the former Audi boss? Rupert Stadler (60), like Hatz before him, has so far denied all allegations by the public prosecutor. After the prospect of an offer from the Munich district court to leave it at a suspended sentence if a confession and a payment of 1.1 million euros were made, Stadler now has to make a decision by May 3rd. Stadler, his defense attorneys and the prosecuting attorney’s office would like to have that much time to think about it, said presiding judge Stefan Weickert on Wednesday, thereby renewing the possible deal again.
Stadler had protested his innocence for years and had not moved away from the process, which had been going on for two and a half years. But according to the preliminary assessment of the Economic Criminal Court, he should have recognized by July 2016 at the latest that the emission values of diesel cars could have been manipulated. Instead of getting to the bottom of the matter and informing the trading partners, he allowed the sale of the cars to continue. Therefore, a prison sentence for fraud by omission comes into consideration for him – with a confession also on probation.
Prosecutors want Stadler to pay another two million euros
In a second conversation about a corresponding agreement on Tuesday, both the defense lawyers and the public prosecutor’s office had expressed reservations, Weickert said. Prosecutor Nico Petzka demanded a condition of probation of two million euros, referring to the houses, condominiums and bank accounts owned by Stadler.
Stadler’s lawyers, Thilo Pfordte and Ulrike Thole, pointed out that Stadler had already paid 4.1 million euros in damages for breach of duty to Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen. In addition, the sentence of one and a half to two years envisaged by the court is too high.
The Economic Criminal Court will not change anything in the penalty framework, said Weickert. Stadler is the highest-ranking defendant and has sufficient assets.
With the confession, Hatz faces a suspended sentence with a payment condition of 400,000 euros, a co-accused engineer a suspended sentence with payment of 50,000 euros. The proceedings against the other engineer who appeared as a key witness were dropped.