Six Additional Volkswagen Employees Now Face Dieselgate Charges

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

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]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Jalop1991 Jalop1991 on Jan 14, 2020

    I hear GM's looking for a couple of new engineers on the 8th gen Corvette...

  • Featherston Featherston on Jan 15, 2020

    The second sentence of the first paragraph needs a "who" rather than a "whom." Here, the relative pronoun is the subject of its clause, not the object - "they played a role," not "them played a role." "Whom" would be correct in something like "Attorneys filed suit on behalf of six employees whom they claim Volkswagen wrongly fired" - "fired them," not "fired they." Signed, That Guy

  • Dukeisduke Is the Volvo EX30 even on sale yet? It was pulled from the NACTOY awards because they were having software problems with the vehicle.
  • Wjtinfwb If you've only got 5k to spend on transportation, I cannot imagine a worse way to spend it than on a GM orphan from Sweden that's 15 years old with 150k on the clock and limited plus expensive parts availability and dwindling techs who'd even want to work on it. Go find a similar vintage Camry or Accord with 150k miles or even a Ford or a Chevy, whatever. Hell, even an old Jaguar is less of a crapshoot than a Saab. At least you can still get parts.
  • Kwik_Shift Brands that were considered from China include BYD, Dayun, Great Wall Motors, Maxus, Nio, Omoda/Chery, Seres, XPeng, and Zeekr. KG Mobility from South Korea also made the list of candidates.That's a lot of car companies from there ready to head here.
  • Analoggrotto Clean sweep and unanimous victory for the world affluence engine of 22nd century : Hyundai/Kia/Genesis. Toyota and Lexus, for 120 years of history have not been able to capture the zenith superlative status of Hyundai Motor Corporation the most awarded, decorated and revered automotive corporation in the history of historical. Featuring best ever, first ever and greatest ever e-ATPs the Hyundai Genesis Kia lineup is posed to become the envy of every country club, ivy league college and fortune 500 corporation in the world. I've been taking a roadtrip in my loaner Elantra N, visiting colleges from east to west, elite universities of higher learning to inspect their parking lots. WHat did I find? Leagues of Genesis models, outnumbering Lexus 3 to 1. When I interviewed faculty and staff at these places of greater learning, their response was unanimous : they chose HMC for the ATPs.
  • Mikey 2019 Chevy Impala Premier FWD with 20 inch factory Bridgestones. I'm looking at replacing tires at the 65,000 KLM's (40,000 miles ) mark ....It doesn't thrill me .. I'm pricing Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires ouch !! ..Up here in Canuckastan ....Big $$$$$
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