More than ten years after the emissions scandal was exposed Volkswagen and the corporate subsidiary Audi The former Audi boss Rupert Stadler (62) has finally been convicted of fraud. The Munich Regional Court’s ruling from 2023 is now legally binding, he said Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on Friday.
The highest German court in civil and criminal cases thus rejected Stadler’s appeal against the Munich judgment. A full substantive review did not reveal any legal errors to the detriment of Stadler, the BGH explained.
Engine developments with a central role
In September 2015, US authorities revealed that Volkswagen diesel vehicles’ emissions levels were being systematically manipulated in order to appear to comply with environmental regulations. It later emerged that Audi’s engine development played a central role in the millions of manipulations. Stadler was at the helm of the premium manufacturer in Ingolstadt for more than ten years and, in this role, also rose to the top management level at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.
Stadler was temporarily remanded in custody in 2018, had to give up his managerial position and had been on trial since September 2020. In June 2023, after confessing, Stadler was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year and nine months and a fine of 1.1 million euros.
The former Audi boss was not accused of active manipulation, like two co-accused engineers. However, the court was convinced that Stadler did not stop the sale of manipulated cars after the scandal was exposed.
According to the BGH, the fraud verdicts against the two engineers who were sentenced to suspended sentences at the same time as Stadler, whose appeals were also rejected, are now legally binding.