The Braunschweig public prosecutor today issued an administrative order against Volkswagen AG in its capacity as a secondary party pursuant to sections 30 para. 1, 130 para. 1 of the German Act on Regulatory Offences in the context of the diesel crisis. The administrative order provides for a fine of €1 billion in total, consisting of the maximum penalty as legally provided for of €5 million and the disgorgement of economic benefits in the amount of €995 million.
According to the findings of the investigation carried out by the Braunschweig public prosecutor, monitoring duties had been breached in the Powertrain Development department in the context of vehicle tests. According to the results obtained by the Braunschweig public prosecutor, they were concurrent causes of 10.7 million vehicles in total with the diesel engines of the types EA 288 (Gen3), in the United States and in Canada, and EA 189, world-wide, being advertised, sold to customers, and placed on the market with an impermissible software function in the period from mid-2007 until 2015.
Following thorough examination, Volkswagen AG accepted the fine and it will not lodge an appeal against it. Volkswagen AG, by doing so, admits its responsibility for the diesel crisis and considers this as a further major step towards the latter being overcome. As a result of the administrative order imposing the fine, the active regulatory offence proceedings conducted against Volkswagen will be finally terminated. Volkswagen assumes that such termination of the proceedings will also have significant positive effects on further active administrative proceedings in Europe against the Volkswagen AG and its subsidiaries.
The city of Braunschweig is home to many of Volkswagen AG’s facilities, including a factory, a utility vehicle holding facility. It is also the headquarters of Volkswagen Bank and Volkswagen Financial Services.
