Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 that the company had cheated in emissions testing using pirated software. As a result, millions of diesel cars appeared less polluting than they were. The Volkswagen leadership would have initially tried to keep the scandal quiet. A test in 2014 would have shown that Volkswagen cars had exceeded the permitted limit value for nitrogen oxides by a factor of 15 to 35. This would also have been communicated to Winterkorn. Even so, the CEO failed to stop using the cheating software. “He waived disclosure and hoped to continue concealing the violations of the law,” the indictment read.
Also in the summer of 2015, Volkswagen executives are said to have discussed the matter. During the meeting, among other things, the extent of imminent fines in the United States was discussed. According to the prosecutors, all those present agreed to conceal the existence of the cheating software, which manipulated the emissions in test situations.
Winterkorn has also been charged with market manipulation for deliberately informing investors too late about the financial consequences of the fraudulent software affair. The trial against Winterkorn about this will start later. Now the court in Braunschweig focuses on manipulating the emissions. That process started on Thursday and will probably last until 2023. Winterkorn was not present at the first session, because he is recovering from hip surgery.