VW diesel settlement blames managers below board level

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen agreed a $4.3 billion settlement to resolve the U.S. government's civil and criminal investigations into its diesel emissions cheating on Wednesday, which singled out six senior managers below board level, an attorney and other VW employees for their role in a decade of emissions deception.

VW pleaded guilty to three felonies: conspiracy to commit fraud and violate the Clean Air Act, obstruction of justice and entry of goods by false statement.

The statement of facts filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit detailed a concerted effort by certain VW employees to destroy documents in anticipation of an order to preserve them, as VW employees prepared to admit to U.S. regulators that the carmaker had used a "defeat device" to cheat diesel tests.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Edward Taylor and Christoph Steitz)