WASHINGTON (AP) – Six high-level Volkswagen employees from Germany have been indicted in the U.S. in the automaker’s emissions-cheating scandal as prosecutors made good on efforts to charge individuals in a corporate corruption case.
But bringing them to trial in the U.S. is another matter.
In announcing the federal charges and a corporate plea bargain by Volkswagen, Justice Department prosecutors on Wednesday detailed a large and elaborate scheme inside the German automaker to commit fraud and then cover it up, with at least 40 employees allegedly involved in destroying evidence.
The company agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $4.3 billion – by far the biggest fine ever levied by the government against an automaker.
“Volkswagen obfuscated, they denied and they ultimately lied,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.