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Frankfurt (AFP)
The trial of four former Volkswagen executives accused of fraud in the “dieselgate” emissions trap scandal began on Thursday in the absence of the former head of the group.
Defendants allegedly organized commercial fraud and tax evasion in connection with the scandal that shook the global auto industry in September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted it had manipulated millions of diesel vehicles to falsify pollution tests.
Last week, the court decided to split the proceedings, delaying the trial of Martin Winterkorn, the group’s former general manager, on grounds of ill health.
Winterkorn, 74, was initially due to stand trial alongside the other four executives, but was recently subjected to an operation and left him unable to appear.
The hearing in Brunswick, not far from Volkswagen’s corporate headquarters in Wolfsburg, is the second significant criminal trial in connection with the dieselgate scandal.
Another, involving Rupert Stadler, the former head of Volkswagen Audi’s subsidiary, began a year ago and is still ongoing.
Judges will hope to identify, among the company’s engineers and directors, who were aware of the emission trap software when they found out and who gave the green light to the plan involving “9 million vehicles sold in Europe and the United States “, according to the indictment.
Volkswagen has already paid damages, refunds and court fees of about 30 billion euros ($ 35 billion) in connection with the scandal, mainly in the US.
Winterkorn himself has agreed to pay 11.2 million euros in damages to his former employer in an agreement with Volkswagen.
According to the court, the long-awaited trial of the former director general has no date yet.
Winterkorn faces a separate charge in Berlin of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee investigating the scandal.
© 2021 AFP