Ex-managers of Volkswagen found guilty in dieselgate scam
Four ex-Volkswagen AG managers were convicted by a German court for their role in the
diesel-emission scandal
that tarnished the carmaker's image and cost it billions of euros.
After four years of trial, the
Braunschweig Regional Court
on Monday gave former executive
Heinz-Jakob Neusser
a suspended jail term of 1 year and three months for his role in the affair sparked by the discovery that vehicles were fitted with software to sidestep emission rules.
Another manager, who can only be identified as Jens H., must serve 4 1/2 years for manipulating more than 2 million vehicles. Former manager Hanno J. was given a term of 2 years and 7 months and Thorsten D. got a suspended sentence of 1 year and 10 months. All four had denied the allegations.
Nearly a decade after the 'dieselgate' scandal broke, the tribunal has handed down its first verdicts in the criminal probe targeting senior staff at VW's core brand. They were charged in 2019 with having vehicles equipped with emission-software manipulation in a case that concerned 9 million cars sold in Europe and the US. During the trial, the court narrowed the case to fewer than 4 million vehicles.
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