Braunschweig The fraud process for the VW diesel affair is only two days old – but one of the co-defendants is already giving out violently against the former executive suite. He himself had made mistakes and also failed to “get out of this project in time,” said a former exhaust technology engineer on Tuesday in front of the Braunschweig regional court.
However, he shifted the main responsibility for the allegedly long-term cover-up to the top management – namely ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn and the ex-head of development of the core brand Volkswagen. The latter is also on trial.
It is unclear whether the process can continue as planned. After a complaint from the public prosecutor’s office against the separation of the procedural section on Winterkorn, the higher regional court wants to decide by the end of September whether it can continue without this or whether he has to be there from the start. This is what some defenders are calling for. The public part in the courtroom might then have to start over.
The engine expert gave the chamber his view of what had happened. E-mails and slides from management meetings were also shown. He was torn between loyalty to his employer and the question of whether he had behaved with integrity. “At that point I made the wrong decision,” he said. “I wouldn’t meet her like that again today.”
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At the same time, the defendant attacked the VW leadership at the time. Holding the process now without winter grain, he feels like a “slap in the face”. From his perspective, it is “an absurd situation that the assistant is on trial here and the presumed head of the gang is at home”. Winterkorn had emphasized that he was “not aware of any wrongdoing”. Also in an investigative committee of the Bundestag at the beginning of 2017, he asserted that he had not learned anything about illegal activities.
Suspicion of gang and commercial fraud
Everything revolves around the question of who, in the genesis of the “US 07” project – VW wanted to compete in the US market with a “clean diesel” – knew what about the manipulation and when. And what conclusions were drawn from it. While technicians claim to have had a bad feeling and warned of the consequences of not honestly following emissions regulations, managers only want advice on problems or irregularities.
The public prosecutor sees sufficiently concrete suspicions, among other things for gang and commercial fraud around the wrong emission data. The engineer sees the majority of the alleged guilt with the top decision-makers. As early as 2012, he informed the development board of the VW core brand of his concerns about the exhaust software used in the USA. “He sent me away with the request to destroy the documents.”
Even three years later, so the admission, things did not get any better with a direct involvement of Winterkorn. Shortly before the deceptions were exposed, the company boss – allegedly “knowing all the facts” – decided to send the later arrested VW manager Oliver Schmidt to the USA. There, he was supposed to further conceal the cause of the falsified emission values.
There is talk of “stage directions” – similar to Schmidt, who had spoken of “an instruction sheet, a script” in an NDR documentation before the process. According to the accused engineer, the announcement was to “continue to mislead the US supervisors. I didn’t stick to that. ”
Rather, he finally admitted VW’s use of the software that only activated the full exhaust gas control in test situations and switched it off during normal driving. “In doing so, I defied my superiors’ instructions and told the authorities the truth.”
Martin Winterkorn is not yet ready to be heard
What Winterkorn would reply is unclear. Because, according to a medical report, he is not yet able to be questioned as a result of a hip operation and subsequent rehabilitation. The fact that the trial in Braunschweig started in the absence of the most famous co-defendant is not only bothering the public prosecutor’s office.
Several defense lawyers also find this problematic, albeit for different reasons – regardless of further criticisms of the indictment, which they consider to be based on incomplete investigation results. The shadow of the ex-CEO falls on her clients, even though he is not present: the risk of prejudice and a mix-up of the allegations is great. The lawyers therefore urged the court to stay the trial. According to its chairman Christian Schütz, the chamber has not yet decided on the application. She is expected to do so in the coming week.
At least until then, the engineer’s allegations are for the time being unchallenged. “I think it is unfair that I am sitting in the investment bank with the gentlemen whom I warned,” he said. “It is the case that the person primarily responsible, Dr. Winterkorn will be spared. ”He had expected him and two other accused managers to take responsibility. “They were wrong decisions that I had pointed out repeatedly.”
More: VW managers come under pressure in the diesel fraud process – long prison sentences are threatened