Former VW exec faces charges over diesel scandal
Unlikely to face a trial in the U.S.
Former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn was charged in the U.S. in a deepening probe into the German automaker’s cheating on diesel emissions testing.
Winterkorn, who stepped down from his role as CEO days after the scandal became public, is accused of conspiring to defraud the U.S. and violate the Clean Air Act. The March 14 indictment was unsealed by a Michigan federal court in early May.
“The indictment … alleges that Volkswagen’s scheme to cheat its legal requirements went all the way to the top of the company,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “These are serious allegations, and we will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”
Winterkorn is the highest-ranking person to be charged in the three-year investigation, opening a new chapter in the cheating scandal that burst into the open in 2015 when VW admitted to rigging the emissions setups of some 11 million vehicles worldwide.
The company, which has bounced back with record deliveries and profits, is nonetheless struggling to step out of the looming shadow of the scandal. Investigations and probes, including several raids at company sites by German authorities, have continued amid disgruntled investors and European car owners seeking damages.
Winterkorn is unlikely to face trial in the U.S. Germany’s justice ministry said the former CEO would not be sent to the U.S. because the country doesn’t extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union. That means Winterkorn can’t be arrested unless he leaves Germany. Winterkorn’s lawyer Felix Doerr told business newspaper Handelsblatt he was “surprised” by the charges.