Six Volkswagen executives indicted in emission scandal

Source: The Washington Post



By Steven Overly January 11 at 2:10 PM

U.S. officials indicted six executives at German automaker Volkswagen on Wednesday in connection with company’s efforts to deliberately deceive U.S. regulators about the emissions standards of its diesel engine vehicles and sell those cars illegally to American drivers.

Five of the six executives are currently in Germany, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch said it was too soon to say how that will impact legal proceedings moving forward. Additional executives at the company are being investigated and could potentially face charges, she said.

The Justice Department officially handed down criminal and civil penalties for Volkswagen on Wednesday afternoon. Volkswagen has agreed to plead guilty to three criminal counts, a rare admission of wrongdoing for a major company, and pay $4.3 billion in fines.

“As you know we cannot put companies in jail, but we can hold their employees personally accountable and make companies pay hefty fines,” said FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/01/11/justice-department-volkswagen-to-plead-guilty-to-three-criminal-counts-in-emissions-scandal/?pushid=breaking-news_1484162013&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&utm_term=.21cabdec1237