VW must pay a penalty of one billion euros because of the diesel affair. The legal processing will take but probably years. The overview.
Volkswagen (icon)
Wednesday, 13.06.2018
21:42 clock
One billion euros fine – that’s the sum that the Prosecutor Braunschweig imposed because of the diesel scandal against Volkswagen Has. It is one of the highest fines ever imposed on a company in Germany. The legal processing will take but probably years. The lawyers of the group are required on several fronts. Here are the key points to the VW scandal:
The trigger
In September 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that VW had been manipulating exhaust emissions for diesel vehicles for years. The then CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes, and VW admits that the fraud software in question is in about eleven million vehicles worldwide. The group publishes a profit warning.
Criminal investigations in the USA
In January 2016, the US Department of Justice sued VW. In 2017, the Group reached a settlement that includes, among other things, the payment of $ 4.3 billion to settle the investigation. In return, VW admits crimes such as conspiracy to violate environmental laws and obstruction of the judicial authorities.
This settlement is without prejudice to proceedings against nine employees of the Group. For example, engineer James L. is sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2017 and manager Oliver S. is sentenced to seven years in prison. The US Justice also charges charges against ex-CEO Winterkorn, among other things, because of conspiracy to fraud. The new VW boss Herbert Diess is said to have testified recently to US Justice of Winterkorn.
Criminal investigations in Germany
In Germany has Volkswagen even 2015 criminal charges against unknown. The prosecutors in Braunschweig, Stuttgart and Munich investigate, inter alia, suspected fraud and market manipulation. You therefore have locations of VW, the subsidiary Porsche and Audi and private homes searched.
The Brunswick prosecutors alone are investigating 49 suspects, including Winterkorn. It is about fraud and market manipulation. The judiciary stated on Wednesday that all civil and criminal investigations against VW remain unaffected by the fine decision.
Complaints by investors
The investigations for market manipulation could VW still expensive to stand. Around ten billion euros in damages demand Volkswagen investors in Germany. They accuse the group executives of having known much earlier about the diesel manipulation than they admit. Accordingly, they should have informed their investors earlier. The VW share price fell sharply after the publication of the diesel scandal in a short time by more than 40 percent.
Procedures therefore run in civil courts in Braunschweig and Stuttgart. The first trial in the trial in Braunschweig is due to begin on 3 September.
Civil suits from diesel buyers
When it comes to compensation for buyers of manipulated diesel cars, the company behaves differently depending on the country. In the US and Canada, Volkswagen has provided around € 18 billion to damaged diesel buyers and used car dealers through comparisons.
In Germany, however, the company denies claims for damages. Therefore, several thousand individual cases run before regional courts – a few hundred of them were once decided in favor of the group, sometimes in favor of the plaintiffs. The government intends to initiate the model declaration suit later this year in order to help as many diesel buyers as possible. At the end of the year, the limitation of their claims threatens. In addition, according to VW annual report in more than 15 other countries collection of diesel buyers run against Volkswagen.