Volkswagen Supplier to Plead Guilty to Conspiracy, Pay $35 Million Fine in Emissions-Cheating Probe
December 18 2018 - 4:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Volkswagen AG supplier IAV GmbH has agreed to plead guilty and
pay a $35 million fine for its role in the German auto giant's
emissions-cheating scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said
Tuesday.
The Berlin-based engineering company, half-owned by Volkswagen
and with U.S. operations in Michigan, designed the software that
allowed Volkswagen to cheat vehicle emissions tests, according to
federal prosecutors.
The Wall Street Journal reported in January that IAV was in
talks to resolve a criminal case, citing sources familiar with the
matter.
By 2008, federal prosecutors say, an IAV manager knew the
purpose of the defeat device software and instructed IAV employees
to continue working on the project.
"IAV put its corporate success over public health and unfairly
disadvantaged its competitors," said Jean E. Williams, deputy
assistant attorney general, said in a statement.
Under the terms of the agreement, subject to approval in Detroit
federal court, IAV agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of
conspiracy for helping Volkswagen to rig diesel-powered vehicles
with illegal software that allowed them to pass U.S. government
emissions tests.
An independent monitor would audit IAV's compliance practices
for two years as part of the agreement. The company has also agreed
to cooperate in the federal investigation and prosecution of
individuals in connection with the emissions cheating.
IAV officials declined to comment through a representative on
whether any employees had resigned, been fired, or were otherwise
disciplined in connection with their actions in the emissions
fraud.
A plea hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 18.
"The misconduct identified does not reflect who we are as a
company," IAV President Kai-Stefan Linnenkohl said in a
statement.
IAV's U.S. subsidiary, IAV Automotive Engineering Inc., isn't a
part of the agreement and wasn't involved in the violation, IAV
said.
Volkswagen pleaded guilty last year to criminal charges related
to the emissions fraud and agreed to pay more than $20 billion in
U.S. penalties, including a $2.8 billion criminal fine, to settle
cases with the government, regulators, state attorneys general and
customers.
Volkswagen's final U.S. legal tab will depend on how many
customers accept the auto maker's offers to repurchase vehicles
that had the software.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2018 16:14 ET (21:14 GMT)
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