The Latest: VW senior manager gets 7 years in US prison

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 3:41 pm, Wednesday, December 6, 2017

DETROIT (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing of Volkswagen senior manager Oliver Schmidt in the company's diesel emissions scandal (all times local):

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4 p.m.

A Volkswagen senior manager has been sentenced to seven years in a U.S. prison for concealing software that was used to evade pollution limits on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.

Lawyers spent roughly 90 minutes giving different views about Oliver Schmidt's culpability in the scandal. But Judge Sean Cox sided with prosecutors, calling Schmidt a "key conspirator" who viewed the cover-up as an opportunity to "shine" and "climb the corporate ladder."

 
Schmidt led VW's engineering and environmental office in Michigan from 2012 to early 2015. He met with key California regulators in 2015 but didn't disclose the rogue software. The government says he later misled U.S. investigators and destroyed documents.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/The-Latest-VW-senior-manager-gets-7-years-in-US-12410788.php

[rurallib]

1. Finally, finally someone in a corner office has to take responsibility!

It is a start!

Hope it reaches all the way to that Oval Office!

[Stuart G]

2. Evidently this fellow was one of the higher ups here in the U.S.A. but,.not at VW over all..

I wonder if anyone in Germany at the company's HQ got that much jail time, ...or any at all..

I read the article and it says that this fellow, Schmidt, was told what to say to California Regulators, and went along with the lies. He was told by higher up executives from Germany. According to the article. VW had been cheating on pollution for at least a decade. That the extra computer devise that cheated on pollution tests had
been known by higher ups for years. But the air here in the U.S.A. was supposed to be cleaner, but it turns out it was many times dirtier than regulators were led to believe. Not just a little, but many times worse according to the article. You know, those that told him what to say, they are not arrested, and again, what about those crooks who came up with the idea in Germany???

Here is the result of the con job that the German company played on the U.S.A.

The result? The engines emitted nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.

I found this on the internet, I do recall this was the heart of the issue, the CEO of VW in Germany resigned. I have not found out if he was charged with anything, or lost his retirement pay.

Here is a link to the full story of the con...This is from the BBC News:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772

[Stuart G]

3. Here is an article about the fellow who was CEO of VW at the time of the pollution scandal

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-19/ex-vw-ceo-winterkorn-defends-tenure-in-first-speech-since-exit

from Bloomberg News...Oh..In case you don't want to read it..The CEO at the time,(a fellow named, Martin Winterkorn ) says. He was not informed about this pollution issue, ever, until it was too late. Basically, he claims he knew nothing at about this. Which goes against what was known about him, that he was someone who always looked at the details of everything associated with being the CEO..and producing the autos.

But he says...he knew nothing about the biggest scandal in VW history and perhaps in all German manufacturing history.. read the article..he says he was never informed, till it was too late..

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Oh...I might add, there is some question that he might not be telling the truth, the article implies this, but there is no proof that he lied, he just claims he was never informed. Interesting article. You be the judge of this fellow.
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Oh..another point: It seems that he has never been charged with a crime of any kind. (unlike the U.S.A executives) and he has led the good life since his resignation. If he had been charged with any criminal activity, the article would have explained this. He has retired. I assume he is ok financially and living well. The German parliament is still investigating the pollution issue at VW.