Former Audi boss to confess in ‘dieselgate’ fraud trial
Rupert Stadler, the former boss of German automaker Audi, has said he will plead guilty at his trial over falsified emissions test results for the company’s diesel cars – commonly referred to as the “dieselgate” scandal – his lawyers announced on Wednesday. .
Stadler has agreed to a plea deal filed by the Munich district court that calls for a suspended sentence and a fine of €1.1m ($1.21m).
The judge said Stadler faced a prison sentence of one to two and a half years if he chose not to confess.
Why is Stadler on trial?
Stadler has maintained his innocence for two and a half years since the trial began.
He became the first top executive to stand trial in the scandal that has hit Audi parent Volkswagen and other subsidiaries.
German car giant Volkswagen – whose subsidiaries include Porsche, Audi, Skoda and Seat – admitted in September 2015 that it had installed software to control emissions in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide, making them look less polluting in environments test of what they really were on the road. .
Stadler was accused of continuing to sell cars with the manipulation software after discovering this, but another Audi and Porsche manager, Wolfgang Hatz, who is on trial alongside Stadler and two other Audi engineers, has been accused of responsibility for actually install the software.
The prosecution rejected the option of agreeing to a suspended sentence for Hatz, who still faces the possibility of being arrested.
ab/sms (dpa, AFP)
Source: DW
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