Volkswagen was fined one billion euros ($1.6 billion) over diesel emissions cheating in what amounts to one of the highest ever fines imposed by German authorities against a company, public prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The German fine follows a US plea agreement from January 2017 when VW agreed to pay $US4.3 billion ($5.7 billion) to resolve criminal and civil penalties for installing illegal software in diesel engines to cheat strict US anti-pollution tests.

"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," it said in a statement.

The fine is the latest blow to Germany's auto industry which cannot seem to catch a break from the diesel emissions crisis. Germany's government on Monday ordered Daimler to recall nearly 240,000 cars fitted with illicit emissions-control devices, part of a total of 774,000 models affected in Europe as a whole.

Munich prosecutors this week widened an emissions cheating probe into VW's luxury brand Audi to include Chief Executive Rupert Stadler among the suspects accused of fraud and false advertising. </s> Automaker Volkswagen said Wednesday that it's being fined 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) by German authorities in connection with the diesel emissions scandal.

Volkswagen said in a statement it would accept the fine imposed by prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig.

Prosecutors concluded that Volkswagen failed to properly oversee the activity of its engine development department, resulting in some 10.7 million diesel vehicles with illegal emissions-controlling software being sold worldwide.

The scandal, which came to light in the United States in 2015, has already cost the German automaker $20 billion in fines and civil settlements in the U.S.

Volkswagen said it hoped that paying the German fine would have "positive effects on other official proceedings being conducted in Europe against Volkswagen" and its subsidiaries.

Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating on U.S. emissions tests by equipping diesel cars with software that turned on emissions controls when the vehicles were on test stands, and reduced the controls during normal driving.

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn was charged in March in the U.S. with wire fraud and conspiring to violate the U.S. Clean Air Act. Two lower-ranking Volkswagen executives have been sentenced to prison in the United States, while five others have been charged but not been apprehended.

The German prosecutors are investigating Winterkorn and 48 others in connection with the emissions scandal.

Winterkorn resigned days after the U.S. government accused Volkswagen of evading emissions standards, saying at the time that he was not aware of any wrongdoing on his part. </s> Car maker Volkswagen has said it is being fined one billion euro (£880 million) by German authorities in connection with the diesel emissions scandal.

Volkswagen said it would accept the fine imposed by prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig.

Prosecutors concluded that Volkswagen failed to properly oversee the activity of its engine development department, resulting in some 10.7 million diesel vehicles with illegal emissions-controlling software being sold worldwide. </s> Car maker Volkswagen has said it is being fined one billion euro £880m by German authorities in connection with the diesel emissions scandal.

Volkswagen said it would accept the fine imposed by prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig.

Prosecutors concluded that Volkswagen failed to properly oversee the activity of its engine development department, resulting in some 10.7 million diesel vehicles with illegal emissions-controlling software being sold worldwide.

The scandal, which came to light in the United States in 2015, has already cost the German car giant billions in penalties imposed by US authorities.

The firm said it hoped that paying the German fine would have "positive effects on other official proceedings being conducted in Europe against Volkswagen" and its subsidiaries. </s> German prosecutors have fined the automaker 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) on Wednesday over diesel emissions cheating allegations. Volkswagen said it will accept the fine, therefore admitting responsibility for the scandal.

“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,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. </s> BERLIN: Volkswagen was fined one billion euros (US$1.18 billion) over diesel emissions cheating in what amounts to one of the highest ever fines imposed by German authorities against a company, public prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The German fine follows a U.S. plea agreement from January 2017 when VW agreed to pay US$4.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil penalties for installing illegal software in diesel engines to cheat strict U.S. anti-pollution tests.

"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," it said in a statement.

The fine is the latest blow to Germany's auto industry which cannot seem to catch a break from the diesel emissions crisis. Germany's government on Monday ordered Daimler to recall nearly 240,000 cars fitted with illicit emissions-control devices, part of a total of 774,000 models affected in Europe as a whole.

Munich prosecutors this week widened an emissions cheating probe into VW's luxury brand Audi to include Chief Executive Rupert Stadler among the suspects accused of fraud and false advertising.

The prosecutor's office in Braunschweig imposed the fine against VW on Wednesday for organisational deficiencies which failed to prevent "impermissible software functions" from being installed in 10.7 million cars between 2007 and 2015.

The fine did not address any civil claims or claims by vehicle owners, the prosecutor's office said in its statement. It does, however, end regulatory offence proceedings against Volkswagen, which the Wolfsburg-based carmaker said would help to settle further administrative proceedings against VW in Europe.

VW is far from being out of the woods. The carmaker's new chief executive, Herbert Diess, and the group's chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch are still being investigated by Braunschweig prosecutors for suspected market manipulation.

Poetsch, also CEO of VW's majority stakeholder Porsche SE , is separately being investigated by prosecutors in Stuttgart over the same suspicions.

"Courts will now hardly be able to dismiss consumer complaints," said Jan-Eike Andresen of platform MyRight which has mandated U.S. law firm Hausfeld to pursue civil claims.

Hausfeld represents aggrieved VW owners and shareholders on both sides of the Atlantic.

Wednesday's fine was not included in the 25.8 billion euros of provisions that VW set aside for the diesel cheating scandal, and would hit earnings, analysts at Evercore ISI said.

Volkswagen said it held a management board meeting to discuss the latest development in its emissions crisis with members of the supervisory board also being informed.

Further steps would be taken to overcome the diesel cheating scandal and to restore trust in the company, Diess said.

Finance chief Frank Witter will update investors on Aug. 1 on the implications of the fine for the carmaker's cash position, alongside its second-quarter results, VW said.

"Paying out 1 billion euros is extremely painful but in the broader context it isn't a material number," Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said, citing VW's 24.3 billion-euro net cash position after the first quarter. </s> A Volkswagen engineer was sentenced Friday to 40 months in prison for his role in the diesel emissions cheating scandal, which severely tarnished the German automaker’s reputation.

US District Judge Sean Cox issued the sentence in a Detroit court against 63-year-old James Liang, who was also fined $200,000, Xinhua reported.

Liang has been cooperating with U.S. authorities and pleaded guilty last year to a charge of conspiracy.

“Your cooperation and regret is noted, but it doesn’t excuse your conduct,” Cox told Liang.

The judge said Liang was “an important and key player in a very serious crime,” who helped devise software that cheated emissions tests.

The illegal software was designed to turn on emissions controls to pass government tests and turn them off while on the road. Nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles were reportedly tampered with over the past decade.

Besides Liang, six other current and former Volkswagen executives have also been indicted. The German automaker was forced to pay tens of billions in fines and civil penalties. </s> Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has been arrested in Germany as part of an investigation into emissions cheating, according to prosecutors in Munich.

The arrest comes one week after Germany imposed a €1 billion ($1.2 billion) penalty on Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen, for rigging diesel engine emissions worldwide.

Volkswagen has admitted using special software to cheat on emissions tests, with nearly 11 million vehicles affected.

Representatives for Volkswagen and Audi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. </s> DETROIT - A Volkswagen engineer who had a key role in the company's diesel emissions scandal was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison and a $200,000 fine, a steeper punishment than prosecutors requested.

 

 James Robert Liang, 63, knew the German automaker was cheating and worked to cover it up, U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox said during the sentencing hearing in Detroit. The judge imposed a 40-month prison sentence.

 

 "The conspiracy perpetrated a massive...and stunning fraud on the American consumer that attacked and destroyed the very foundation of our economic system," Cox said.

 

 Liang, who faces deportation to Germany upon his release from prison, declined to speak on his own behalf Friday. Prosecutors had requested a 36-month prison term and a $20,000 fine.

Prosecutors said Liang was aware that VW used software to cheat U.S. emission rules on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles. His lawyer said he's not "greedy or immoral" but followed orders to keep his job and support his family.

"What occurred here was wrong," defense attorney Daniel Nixon said. "But he wasn't the mastermind. He was not motivated by greed."

Liang pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government and agreed to cooperate with investigators. Liang had asked the judge to consider a sentence of probation and 1,500 hours of community service.

 

 He is one of two VW employees to plead guilty. Earlier this month, Oliver Schmidt, 48, a former manager of a VW engineering office in suburban Detroit, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges related to the scandal. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6.

 

 VW itself pleaded guilty in March to defrauding the U.S. government and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties, on top of billions more to buy back cars.

►Related: Judge sentences Volkswagen to $2.8B criminal fine for emissions cheating

 

 Others charged in the case are in Germany and out of reach.

 

 Volkswagen and U.S. environmental regulators announced agreement last month on a plan for the automaker to fix most of the diesel cars involved in the emissions cheating scandal.

 

 Volkswagen has admitted that the cars were sold with illegal software programmed to turn on emissions controls during government lab tests and turn them off while on the road. Investigators determined that the cars emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans.

 

 The company got away with the scheme for seven years until independent researchers reported it to government regulators.
Volkswagen is fined €1 billion by German prosecutors after cheating on diesel particulate emissions testing.