After the termination of the criminal proceedings against the current VW top because of market manipulation in the diesel scandal, the corresponding process against ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn (73) has also been discontinued. This was announced by the Braunschweig regional court on Friday. The proceedings will be discontinued – but the fraud trial against Winterkorn due to increased diesel emissions is being held.
The court justified its decision with the fact that the possible penalty that Winterkorn could face in the fraud proceedings is likely to be significantly higher than if the financial world was alleged to be too late in informing the financial world about the consequences of the falsified emissions data from the vehicles. A setting is considered “if the expected punishment is not significant in terms of the expectation of punishment for another offense”. The Economic Criminal Chamber accepted this – in the so-called NOx process, the partial penalty could be considerably more serious.
Winterkorn was – like the current VW supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch (69) and the current chief executive officer Herbert Diess (62) – indicted in September 2019 by the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office for market manipulation. The investigators accused them of having informed investors too late about the financial risks of the emissions scandal. After the manipulation of millions of diesel engines became public knowledge in September 2015, the VW share price crashed temporarily – investors are mistaken and are demanding billions in damages in a civil lawsuit.
In the case of Diess and Pötsch paid Volkswagen 4.5 million euros each to the Lower Saxony judiciary. The district court had reached an agreement with the parties involved in the non-public interim proceedings on the setting, subject to conditions.
The Diesel trial against Winterkorn and four other VW managers is expected to begin on February 25, according to the court. Winterkorn has rejected the allegation of commercial gang fraud and vehicle tax evasion.
Five years ago, Volkswagen admitted to having manipulated millions of diesel emissions values through a shutdown device. This ensured that cars admittedly comply with the permitted nitrogen oxide values on the test bench, but that they emit a multiple of these emissions on the road. There is still no end in sight to the numerous trials by public prosecutors, customers and investors around the world. The reparation of the scandal has cost Volkswagen around 32 billion euros so far.