Former Audi chief executive officer (CEO) Rupert Stadler has been found guilty of fraud and sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on probation, the Munich Regional Court said Tuesday.
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Stadler has also been ordered to pay a fine of 1.1 million euros (1.2 million U.S. dollars). Last month, after years of claiming innocence in a scandal over the instalment of illegal emissions control devices in Audi cars, the manager finally admitted he had not intervened despite knowing about the fraud.
He was the first member of the board of Audi's parent company Volkswagen to plead guilty in the so-called Dieselgate scandal, which caused an international stir in 2015 and has already cost Germany's largest carmaker more than 30 billion euros in compensation claims.
With the illegal defeat devices installed, cars complied with the nitrogen oxide limits in emissions tests, but not on the road. More than 10 million Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, and Mercedes vehicles were affected worldwide.
Audi's former head of engine development Wolfgang Hatz, and one of his senior engineers were also convicted in the trial, and received suspended sentences of two years, and one year and nine months respectively.
They were also required to pay fines of 400,000 euros and 50,000 euros respectively.
However, prosecutor Nico Petzka does not see the three as the main culprits in the diesel scandal. It is "doubtful" whether there can be main culprits at all "when there are so many people involved in the company who are running in the wrong direction," he said in his closing statement on Tuesday.
Proceedings against a fourth defendant, who had confessed early on as a state witness, were discontinued in April on payment of a fine. Those verdicts are not yet final.
The carmakers involved in the scandal continue to face damage claims. Moreover, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled on Monday that in order to receive compensation, owners of diesel cars with illegal emissions control devices will no longer have to prove that manufacturers acted intentionally in installing such devices, only that an illegal device was installed.
As long as they cannot prove their innocence, carmakers must now pay a lump sum of 5 to 15 percent of the purchase price of the manipulated vehicle, according to Monday's ruling. It follows a landmark decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in March. ■