Former VW boss facing charges in Berlin over false testimony
June 9, 2021
Prosecutors in Berlin have brought charges against former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn, accusing him of giving false testimony to the German parliament about his knowledge of the carmaker's emissions scandal.
Martin Winterkorn stepped down as VW boss in 2015 after the 'dieselgate' scandal came to lightImage: picture-alliance/dpa/B. v. Jutrczenka
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Berlin states prosecutors brought charges against the former boss of the German automobile giant Volkswagen on Wednesday, alleging that he lied to the German Bundestag, German mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported.
The charges say Martin Winterkorn gave false testimony in January 2017 to a parliamentary committee that was investigating the "dieselgate" scandal, in which VW falsified data regarding emissions of diesel cars.
The prosecutors said that Winterkorn knew about the data manipulation earlier than he admitted to during the inquiry. VW has tried to distance itself from the former boss and the whole scandal, but has continued to face litigation.
"In his testimony, the accused falsely claimed to have been informed of the defeat devices only in September 2015," Berlin prosecutors said in a statement.
"According to the indictment, he had since May 2015 been aware that the engine control software of some VW vehicles had been equipped with a function to manipulate the exhaust values in testing," prosecutors added.
Dieselgate: A timeline
VW's emissions scandal plunged the automaker into its deepest crisis ever. It brought with it everlasting damage to VW's reputation and massive fees and penalties — not to mention compensation claims from car owners.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
The disaster unfolds — September 2015
About two weeks after Volkswagen admitted behind closed doors to US environmental regulators that it had installed cheating software in some 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, the Environmental Protection Agency shared that information with the public. It was September 18, 2015. The ensuing crisis would eventually take a few unexpected turns.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Spata
The boss must go, long live the boss — September 2015
Volkswagen's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn (above) had little choice but to step down several days after news of the scandal broke. In September 2015, he tendered his resignation, but retained his other posts within the Volkswagen Group. Winterkorn's successor was Matthias Müller. Until taking the reins at VW, Müller had been the chairman at Porsche, a VW subsidiary.
Image: picture-alliance/Sven Simon
Raiding headquarters — October 2015
Regulators in the US weren't the only ones investigating VW. Authorities in Lower Saxony, the German state in which VW is based, were also scrutinizing the company. On October 8 2015, state prosecutors raided VW's headquarters along with several other corporate locations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Hell breaks loose — January 2016
On January 4, 2016, the US government filed a lawsuit against VW in Detroit, accusing the German automaker of fraud and violations of American climate protection regulations. The lawsuit sought up to $46 billion for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Burgi
Quit or forced out? — March 2016
In March 2016, the head of VW in the US, Michael Horn, resigned. In the initial days and weeks after the scandal broke, he was the one US authorities turned to for information. He issued an official apology on behalf of the automaker, asking for the public's forgiveness.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Settlement — October 2016
On October 25 2016, a US judge approved a final settlement that would have VW pay $15.3 billion. In addition, affected cars would be retrofitted with better, non-deceptive hardware and software, or else VW would buy them back completely from customers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
Imitators — July 2017
When dieselgate first emerged in 2015, analysts said it was likely other car makers were also cheating tests. But it wasn't until 2017 that other companies were targeted in probes. In July, German authorities launched investigations into luxury car makers Porsche and Daimler for allegedly cheating emissions tests. Others, such as Audi and Chrysler, have also been hit by similar allegations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Kraufmann
Public still supportive — December 2017
Despite dieselgate, VW has managed to keep the emissions scandal from utterly tarnishing its image. According to several polls, between 55 to 67 percent of Germans continue to trust the automaker. In the US, polls show that roughly 50 percent still believe the German company produces worthwhile vehicles.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Klose
Fuming over monkeys — January 2018
In late January, however, VW suffered another heavy blow over reports that the company experimented on monkeys and made the animals inhale diesel fumes. To make matters worse, a separate experiment that had humans inhale relatively harmless nitrogen dioxide was revealed at the same time. Some media wrongly interpreted this to mean humans were also inhaling toxic fumes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
Canadian court demands millions — January 2020
Years after the scandal that caused Volkswagen to pay CAN$2.4 billion (US$1.83 billion), a court in Toronto order a further fine of CAN$196.5 million. Volkswagen pleaded guilty of violating in environmental laws. Prosecutor Tom Lemon noted that the fine was "26 times the highest fine ever for a Canadian environmental offence."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Knipping
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Volkswagen and others facing separate charges in France
In a separate case, Volkswagen said on Wednesday that it was facing fresh charges in France for cheating emissions testing.
Court proceedings began on May 6, with French prosecutors claiming that Volkswagen committed fraud in regards to crucial aspects of a car model the company produced. This lead to the endangerment of human and animal health, prosecutors said.
The company — no longer under the leadership of Winterkorn — denied causing "harm" to French consumers.
The court ordered VW to post €10 million ($12.2 million) in bail and put up €60 million as a bank guarantee to ensure possible compensation can be paid. Renault faced the same treatment on Tuesday.
Stellantis, the new parent company for French carmaker Peugeot since its merger with Fiat Chrysler, on Wednesday announced that Peugeot was also facing investigation. Two of its other subsidiaries, Citroen and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, had also been summoned as part of the investigation.
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VW and executives settle compensation
In yet another announcement on Wednesday, Volkswagen said it had come to an agreement with former executives, including Marting Winterkorn, who led the company in the run-up to the "dieselgate" scandal.
The company will be paid a total of €288 million in compensation — including the €11 million in damages that the former CEO recently agreed to pay. Rupert Stadler, who formerly led the VW subsidiary Audi, was also included in the settlement.
Some €270 million of the payment comes from directors' and officers' liability insurance.
Former Audi boss Stadler charged over Dieselgate
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Multiple charges against former VW boss
The former boss is also facing a trial in the town of Braunschweig, close to the VW Wolfsburg headquarters, in the state of Lower Saxony.
The court dropped market manipulation charges against Winterkorn in February; however, he must still face accusations of fraud, which he denies. Prosecutors have chosen to pursue the fraud charges, which carry a heavier possible sentence.
The 73-year-old resigned in September 2015 after it emerged that the German auto giant had fitted millions of its vehicles worldwide with a so-called defeat device. The device made emissions from some cars appear cleaner than they were, qualifying them for lower road tax.
A Whistleblower and Dieselgate
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Several key figures from the auto industry were forced to step down and sometimes appear in court. Former Audi CEO Stadler was the first top executive to stand trial in Germany for his role in the affair.
The Audi company was deemed not liable to pay compensation to customers by Germany's Federal Court of Justice in March of this year. The court ruled that it would be difficult to prove Audi's direct responsibility for installing the parent company's software in its cars.
