Audi's Former CEO Stadler Charged With Fraud in Volkswagen Diesel Scandal -- Update
31 Juli 2019 - 12:38PM
Dow Jones News
(Updates with background, Audi statement)
By Max Bernhard
German prosecutors have filed charges against Rupert Stadler,
the former chief executive of premium car maker Audi AG (NSU.XE),
in connection with parent Volkswagen AG's (VOW.XE) diesel-emissions
scandal.
Mr. Stadler and three unnamed others have been charged with
fraud, falsifying certification and illegal advertising, the
prosecutors' office in Munich said on Wednesday. The former Audi
CEO left the company last year after being detained on suspicion of
witness tampering.
Volkswagen, the world's largest car maker by sales, has spent
nearly four years trying to put its diesel scandal behind it after
admitting in 2015 to having rigged some 11 million vehicles
worldwide with software that allowed them to dodge emissions tests.
Since then, the company and its subsidiaries have had to pay more
than $25 billion in fines and settlement costs.
The legal and financial fallout from the scandal continues to
dog the company. Last week, Volkswagen said it took diesel-related
charges of about $1 billion in the first half of the year.
Munich prosecutors accuse Mr. Stadler, who was Audi's CEO at the
time the scandal erupted, of having been aware of the manipulation
since the end of September 2015 at the latest, but of nevertheless
allowing the sale of the affected vehicles to continue.
Mr. Stadler has previously denied any knowledge of the
manipulation. His lawyers didn't immediately reply to a request for
comment.
The charges concern more than 430,000 Audi, Volkswagen and
Porsche vehicles, which were mostly sold in the U.S. and European
markets, the prosecutors said.
Audi has been inextricably involved in Volkswagen's emissions
scandal from the beginning. Mr. Stadler was arrested in connection
to the probe in June 2018 and remained in pretrial detention until
late October. Volkswagen removed him from his post that month.
Around the same time, Audi agreed to pay a fine of 800 million
euros ($891 million) for its role in the scandal.
On Wednesday, Audi said it continues to cooperate with
authorities to clarify the circumstances leading to the diesel
crisis.
"The indictment of individual persons is to be seen separately
from the proceedings against AUDI AG, which were concluded in
October 2018 with the payment of a fine of EUR800 million," it
said.
Last week, in its report for the first six months of the year,
Volkswagen said it is still facing lawsuits and criminal
investigations in several countries across the globe, including a
lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in
March.
Write to Max Bernhard at max.bernhard@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 31, 2019 06:23 ET (10:23 GMT)
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