FILE PHOTO: The VW logo is seen at the site of the first hearing of a consumer group’s class action suit on behalf of Volkswagen owners against VW over the diesel emissions cheating scandal, at the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig, Germany, September 30, 2019. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German court said on Wednesday it was ending proceedings against the chairman and chief executive of Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) after the carmaker agreed to pay a fine of 9 million euros ($9.9 million) over the diesel emissions scandal.
CEO Herbert Diess and non-executive Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch were accused of stock market manipulation for a delay in informing investors about the diesel scandal when it first came to light in 2015, and were each fined 4.5 million euros.
VW in September 2015 admitted using illegal software to cheat U.S. diesel engine tests, battering its share price.
Volkswagen already announced on Tuesday it was paying the fines for Diess and Poetsch, who in 2015 held positions as the head of VW brand and finance chief, respectively, as they did not violate any laws or their fiduciary duties toward VW.
The court said the case against Martin Winterkorn, who was CEO at the time of the scandal, is still pending on charges of fraud and other offences.
The scandal over engine control devices that mask excessive nitrogen oxide emissions has so far cost Volkswagen more than 30 billion euros in damages and regulatory fines, mainly imposed in the United States.
Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Maria Sheahan