Martin Winterkorn
The part of the proceedings against Winterkorn was separated, it should start later.
(Photo: imago / fossiphoto)
Braunschweig According to the conviction of the prosecutors in the diesel fraud trial, the former VW group boss Martin Winterkorn had known about the strategy of deception for a long time before admitting the exhaust gas manipulation in autumn 2015. The Braunschweig public prosecutor underpinned its allegations of opening criminal proceedings against former company executives on Thursday.
Winterkorn learned, for example, through a note from a confidante in his “weekend post” that, in tests conducted by scientists in the USA in 2014, diesel cars exceeded the permissible nitrogen oxide limit values by up to 15 to 35 times. According to the results of the investigation, the manager is said to have taken note of this – but he did not have the further use of the fraudulent software stopped. “He decided against disclosure and hoped to be able to keep the legal violations secret,” read the indictment.
At the latest at a “damage table” at the end of July 2015, the “defeat device”, which only activated the full exhaust gas control in test situations, was then openly discussed. Winterkorn called his confidante to prepare. The senior employee said to him: “We screwed up.” During the meeting, among other things, the scope of the threat of fines for around 500,000 manipulated diesel vehicles in the United States was discussed. But the “feared outburst of anger” from Winterkorn, which senior engineers expected, did not materialize.
All those present agreed that even at this point – a good two months before the affair was exposed – the shutdown function of emissions cleaning in road operations would continue to be concealed from the California environmental authority CARB, according to the prosecutor. A high-ranking developer who was also accused in Braunschweig then remarked: “Shit, went completely wrong.”
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In the main hearing, four former managers and engineers of the Volkswagen Group are initially on trial. Among other things, they are accused of commercial and gang-like fraud with manipulated software in millions of cars (6 KLs 23/19). The part of the proceedings against Winterkorn was separated, it should start later.
More: Trial against ex-VW boss Winterkorn will probably be postponed again