A judge on Friday ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty in the United States for cheating on diesel emissions tests, blessing a deal negotiated by the government for a “massive fraud” orchestrated by the German automaker.
U.S. District Judge Sean Cox stuck to the plea deal during the sentencing hearing, six weeks after VW pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice in a scheme involving nearly 600,000 diesel cars in the U.S. They were programmed to turn on pollution controls during testing and off while on the road.
Speaking from the bench in the heart of the global auto industry, Cox said he was amazed that VW would commit such a crime.
“Who has been hurt by this corporate greed? From what I can see it’s not the managers at VW, the ones who get paid huge salaries and large bonuses. As always it’s the little guy,” the judge said, referring to car buyers and VW’s blue-collar workers who might earn less in the future.
Separately, VW is paying $1.5 billion in a civil case brought by government regulators and spending $11 billion to buy back cars and offer other compensation.
Seven employees have also been charged with crimes in the U.S., but five are in Germany and are unlikely to be extradited.
Cox urged the German government to “prosecute those responsible for this deliberate massive fraud that has damaged an iconic automobile company.”
In brief remarks to the judge, VW defense attorney Jason Weinstein says the criminal fine is an “appropriate and serious sanction.”
It’s not nice to foul Mother Nature.
Will the billions in fines world wide make a noticeable difference to our air quality? No. This is another enviro money grab.
VW gave consumers what they wanted, peppy fuel efficient cars. The extra NO and NO2 will be returned to their elemental form by rain and plant life.
Hmmmm….
Fudging the data and monitoring system to show the outcomes you desire…
Sound familiar?
LOL, except that governments reward the complicit climate researchers with grants but punish companies struggling to endure impossible regulations . Climatologists need to satisfy one rule (make the data fit the hypothesis) while companies must satisfy never-ending rules. Socialists are bankrupt in so many ways. They’re not happy until we’re not happy.
Then Vegas gambling should be in the same boat!
And the MSM and the Democrats and all the pollsters should be in the same boat yet again if the 2016 election is an example of that!
And then the EPA it self should be in the same boat for that river they polluted! While holding other waterworks people to a different standard for doing their best to protect the waters from pollution of treating the polluted water they were in charge of making safe on a daily basis!
And later we saw how they did with Flint, Michigan! Water people had to consume!
But hey, Carbon pollution is a new tax that they want to use, they already taken care of the other BS they already taxed and don’t care anymore until someone else can be made accountable for it! See how that works? 😉
4:20? In the morning. Must be Earth Day.
A good deed never goes unpunished.