Car giant Audi’s former CEO Rupert Stadler has been offered a no-jail deal by prosecutors if he confesses to fraud charges over faked diesel emissions.
Court officials in the city of Munich, in the southern German state of Bavaria, told Stadler, 60, that he should expect to be found guilty of the charges, on Tuesday, 28th March.
But the Munich Regional Court chairman, Stefan Weickert, said he could expect to receive a suspended sentence if he agrees to confess, according to local media.
Stadler – who has pleaded not guilty so far – could face up to 10 years behind bars if he is convicted without taking the deal.
The Volkswagen Group emissions scandal, also known as Dieselgate, came to light when the manufacturer was accused of cheating to pass emissions tests.
Stadler, 60, and three co-defendants have been on trial for two and a half years, accused of fraud and of manipulating diesel emissions in vehicles.
Volkswagen and Audi were caught using illegal engine management software to disguise excessive diesel pollution during anti-pollution tests.
The Volkswagen Group owns a number of big car brands, including Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Skoda and of course, Volkswagen.
The large car group at first claimed that the fraud was the work of a small group of engineers and that no senior management had been involved.
But employee testimony led prosecutors to detain Stadler for four months in 2018.
He is accused of selling cars that did not comply with environmental standards.
The alleged fraud dates back to 2008 and was finally uncovered in a huge scandal in the United States in 2015.
But the production and sale of manipulated cars only ceased in Europe in 2018, according to local media.
Stadler is one of four former Audi chiefs facing charges, along with the car manufacturer’s former development chief Wolfgang Hatz, ex-diesel engine manager Giovanni Pamio and a former engineer, who has been named only as Henning L.
One of the defendants has already confessed, with local media reporting that the case against them may be dropped.
The trial is ongoing.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
