Martin Winterkorn, former CEO of Volkswagen, went on trial Tuesday for his role in the “dieselgate” scandal, nine years after it first threw the German automaker into disaster.
VW revealed in 2015 that it had installed software to rig emissions levels in millions of vehicles globally, sparking one of Germany’s most serious postwar industrial disasters.
Winterkorn is charged with fraud for using so-called defeat devices to make automobiles appear less polluting in lab tests than they were on the road, and if convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.
He resigned as CEO of the VW group, which includes brands like as Porsche, Audi, Skoda, and Seat, shortly after the crisis erupted, but efforts to bring him to trial have thus far failed.
He was intended to stand trial in 2021 alongside four other VW officials, but due to his ill health, the proceedings were separated and postponed.
Winterkorn told reporters after arriving at the regional court in Braunschweig, near VW’s historic Wolfsburg headquarters, that he was doing “quite well”.
When asked how he reflected on his life’s work, Winterkorn answered, “When I see the beautiful cars, very fondly.”
He spoke briefly to the court at the beginning of the hearing to confirm his personal information, speaking slowly and leaning on a chair for support.
Questions regarding Winterkorn’s health loom over the proceedings, with reports indicating that he had surgery in mid-June.
89 hearings have been scheduled until September 2025.
Buyers ‘deceived’
Winterkorn faces several charges.
He has been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, based on the allegation that buyers of some of the group’s automobiles were “deceived about their characteristics” owing to the employment of defeat devices, according to the court.
The alleged fraud involves about nine million vehicles sold in Europe and the United States, with owners facing financial losses totaling hundreds of millions of euros, according to the report.
However, Winterkorn has not been charged with any involvement in the offense from 2006 to 2015. He was Volkswagen’s CEO from 2007 to 2015.
He has also been accused of providing false testimony to a German parliamentary committee in 2017 when the incident was being investigated.
He claimed to have learned about the defeat devices in September 2015, but prosecutors allege it was earlier.
Winterkorn also faces charges of market manipulation.
He is accused of having “deliberately failed to inform the capital market in good time” after discovering the emissions-rigging software, in breach of German stock market regulations.
Winterkorn had already agreed to a settlement with Volkswagen in 2021, in which he would pay the business 11 million euros ($12 million) for the incident.
Volkswagen stated before of the trial that it was not a party to the proceedings, but that it would monitor them.
Rupert Stadler, the former CEO of Audi, is the highest-ranking former executive to be convicted so far in the case.
In June of last year, he received a suspended sentence and a fine as part of a bargain for admitting to fraud by carelessness.
The deception has already cost VW over 30 billion euros in fines, legal fees, and compensation to car owners, primarily in the United States.