Audi leaders are sentenced for diesel scandal

In Munich, the public prosecutor has issued criminal demands for three Audi leaders who are (partly) responsible for the cheating of diesel engine emissions. Former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler should receive a two-year prison sentence for his part in the diesel scandal, but would not actually have to serve that sentence if it is up to the prosecutor. However, he should also be fined €1.1 million.

An engineer should also receive a two-year prison sentence, which he also does not have to serve. He will be fined €50,000. Former head of engine development Wolfgang Hatz would face three years and two months in prison. That sentence would have to be served because only sentences of up to two years can be commuted.

All three suspects in the German trial, which has been running for more than two years, have pleaded guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. Hatz and the engineer are accused of being involved in the cheat diesel program. Former CEO Stadler is accused of not ending the sale of the diesels quickly enough. From 2008 to 2015, tens of thousands of cars with fake diesels were sold, causing damage of €2.2 billion. Stadler is accused of not ending the sale of the diesels quickly enough. As a result, more than 26,000 cars with a cheat diesel were sold in Germany from 2015 to the end of 2017. That resulted in another €69 million in damage.

No main responsibility

At the beginning of his plea, the prosecutor stated that he did not see the three as the main parties responsible for the sjoemeldiesel scandal. According to him, it is ‘doubtful at all’ whether there can be a main person responsible in a legal sense if ‘so many people involved in a company are going in the wrong direction’. Nevertheless, punishments are in order because of the great damage and the ‘enormous environmental pollution’ caused by the cheat diesels.