BERLIN (AP) — A German court convicted the former Audi CEO Tuesday of fraud in connection with the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal. Rupert Stadler thus becomes the highest-ranking executive convicted of falsifying emissions tests with the help of illegal software.
The Munich regional court sentenced Stadler to a suspended 21-month jail term and ordered him to pay a large fine as part of a deal reached between his lawyers, the judge and the prosecution after he pleaded guilty last month, the news agency reported. german dpa.
The former head of Volkswagen’s luxury brand has admitted to the deception and regretted not stopping the sale of the souped-up cars even after the scandal was made public.
Three lower-ranking executives also accepted settlements in the trial that lasted for two and a half years in Munich.
Stadler had been charged with fraud and false certification by the prosecution, which said it allowed cars to be sold with the altered software after the US Environmental Protection Agency discovered the plot in September 2015.
The scandal cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion in fines and settlements. Two executives of the automaker entered prison.
The case also steered the auto industry away from reliance on diesel engines, which accounted for nearly half the market in Europe, and helped accelerate the switch to electric vehicles.
