Six Additional Volkswagen Employees Now Face Dieselgate Charges

The fallout from a scandal that broke in September 2015 after percolating for years has spilled over into the new decade. German prosecutors have laid charges against six Volkswagen employees whom they claim played a role in deceiving regulators and the public.

While the vehicles involved in the diesel emissions scandal have either been fixed or crushed, Germany’s still marching ahead with its investigation into the matter, seeking out those who helped fool the world into believing the brand’s “clean diesel” technology was legit.

According to Reuters, the unnamed employees face charges of fraud, tax evasion, and false advertising. They’re also below the management board level, proving once again that Braunschweig’s finest don’t care where you are on the totem pole.

Prosecutor Klaus Ziehe claims the employees worked at VW between 2006 and 2015, but wouldn’t say whether they’re still with the company.

In a statement from the prosecutors office posted by Automotive News, the prosecutors claim three of the employees are fingered as perpetrators, citing their close involvement with the illegal emissions control devices placed in diesel VW Group vehicles, while the other three allegedly aided and abetted the others in the joint effort.

These six employees are just the latest alleged conspirators to be charged in the diesel affair. Early last year, former CEO Martin Winterkorn, who stepped down days after the scandal broke, was charged by German prosecutors for his alleged role in the deception. In that case, Winterkorn is said to have misled investors, withholding information about the looming scandal that eventually sent the company’s stock plummeting. The ex VW boss was indicted in the U.S. a year earlier.

In September, current CEO Herbert Diess and chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch were hit with similar charges. Both men retained their positions at the top, pending the outcome of the legal process.

[Image: Volkswagen]