Former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler Becomes The First High-ranking Officer To Be Sent To Prison In VW Diesel Scandal

Illustration. (Pexels)

JAKARTA- Eight years have passed since Volkswagen Group's biggest scandal rocked the automotive world. In September 2015, it was reported by Reuters that Audi and VW admitted to embedding illegal software on diesel engines that could manipulate fuel emission tests in the United States (US).

The total number of vehicles using the device is recognized not only in the US but 11 million units worldwide. About 2.4 million units of which are Audi cars, 5.6 million Volkswagen brand units, 1.2 million Skolda, 700,000 Seat units, and 800,000 others are light commercial cars.

Most recently, Audi's former CEO, Rupert Stadler, was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence of one year and nine months over the case of the VW diesel engine scandal that rocked the Volkswagen Group by the Munich Court.

The former Audi boss was the first VW board member to be convicted of a diesel scandal.

Rupert Stadler was also fined $ 1.2 million, which will be given to the German government and charities.

The court also found Wolfgang Hatz, head of Audi's engine development, and head of diesel engineer Giovanni Pamio guilty, by imposing two years and one year and nine months in prison for both. Hatz was fined 437,000 US dollars (Rp 6.5 billion) and Pamio was fined $55,000.

Audi and its parent company, Volkswagen, acknowledged in 2015 that they had manipulated diesel engines to trick emission tests using software that makes cars look less pollution in tests compared to actual conditions on highways.

The scandal sparked investigations, fines, and settlements over the years that have spent the company's funds of around US$36 billion (Rp539 trillion), as reported by international CNN, June 27.

This scandal also led German prosecutors to sue former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn on charges of fraud in 2019. Winterkorn has not yet undergone trial for health reasons.

But earlier, in 2021, Winterkorn agreed to pay VW 12.3 million US dollars (Rp184 billion) after an internal investigation found he failed to properly anticipate any signs that the company might have used illegal diesel engine technology.

Stadler himself has been working for Volkswagen since 1990, agreeing to pay the company $4.5 million (IDR 67 billion) after the investigation. He was arrested in June 2018 over the diesel engine scandal.

In 2019, prosecutors said that Stadler was aware of diesel engine manipulation but failed to prevent the sale of hundreds of thousands of cars with counterfeited software.

The allegations are related to nearly 435,000 Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen cars aimed at the United States and European markets.