Dieselgate Trial for Ex-VW CEO Martin Winterkorn Delayed for Health Reasons
According to a new report from Automotive News, former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn’s criminal trial has been suspended due to the defendant’s poor health. A court in Brunswick, in VW’s home state of Lower Saxony, made the announcement yesterday, saying that all hearings have been canceled because Winterkorn will not be fit to attend in the coming months.
Following the discovery in September 2015 by the EPA that millions of Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche cars had been set up to cheat their way past emissions testing, Winterkorn resigned from his position as the head of the Volkswagen group. “As CEO I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the supervisory board to agree on terminating my function as CEO,” said a statement from Winterkorn in late September of 2015.
As for the criminal trial, which was first taken up in September of this year, the court says that the first quarter of 2025 is now the target to resume proceedings. Charges against Winterkorn and his involvement in Dieselgate include fraud, market manipulation, and unlawful false testimony before a parliamentary committee. There are also allegations that he failed to notify capital markets in good time about the manipulation of the diesel engines.
When the trial first began, Winterkorn rejected the allegations leveled against him, saying via his lawyer that he “did not defraud or harm anyone” and “did not deliberately leave the capital market in the dark so that investors would be harmed,” according to a report from Automotive News Europe.
No further details were made available regarding the health struggles Winterkorn, 77, faces. Nevertheless, a case five years in the making isn’t likely to call it quits anytime soon. Despite the delay, we’ll be watching closely to see how things proceed early next year.
It will be interesting to see what becomes of this case and if it will ever happen.
VW knew the game was rigged against them, so they rigged it back. Doesn’t excuse it, but it does add context.
Just remember – all the Military spec civilian pickups have EGR delete and no DPF or catalyst systems. It will be interesting to see what happens at end of life auctions.
This is long from over – there are several groups, public and private, that have the data to show outdoor BBQs have an air quality impact. They already have regs for wood fires, BBQs are next.
COUNT on it.
The harder ‘we’ (and the editorial staff) to to Keep Politics out of The Hobby, the more politics comes looking for us.
Spare me.