Former Audi Executive Found Guilty In German Automaker’s Diesel Emissions Scandal, Convicted of Fraud
Rupert Stadler, the former CEO of Audi, was found guilty of fraud in connection with the diesel emissions crisis at the carmaker on Tuesday. He is now the highest-ranking official to be held responsible for vehicles that cheated on emissions tests using illegal software.
Stadler entered a guilty plea last month, and as part of an arrangement between his attorneys, the judge, and the prosecution, the Munich regional court sentenced him to 21 months of suspended jail time and ordered him to pay a sizable fine, according to the German news agency dpa.
Even after the issue became widely known, the former chief of Volkswagen’s luxury business acknowledged responsibility and expressed sorrow for not keeping hacked vehicles off the market.
In the two and a half year trial in Munich, three lower level managers also accepted plea agreements.
Prosecutors said that Stadler allowed vehicles with modified software to be marketed even after the plot was discovered by the US Environmental Protection Agency in September 2015. Stadler has been charged with fraud and fraudulent certification.
Two US executives were imprisoned as a result of the scandal, which cost Volkswagen more than USD 30 billion in penalties and settlements.
It accelerated the transition to electric cars by forcing the whole auto industry away from its dependence on diesel engines, which had previously accounted for roughly half of the European auto market.
