The hunt for the people behind Volkswagen’s emissions scandal did not end with the company’s plea bargain this week.
There was the man identified in court documents only as “Supervisor B,” who overruled nervous subordinates and told them to develop the illegal software. Don’t get caught, he told them, according to the documents. There was “Attorney A,” who, as regulators closed in, urged co-workers to destroy any emails that mentioned the “acoustic function,” the code name for emissions cheating software.
The two suspects were conspicuously missing from the group of six Volkswagen executives indicted on Wednesday — a clear indication that there could be more criminal charges, further eroding the company’s reputation and destabilising management. There is little doubt that investigators will lean on suspects to testify against others, and push as high up in Volkswagen’s organisation chart as the evidence allows.
The $20 billion that Volkswagen is paying to resolve civil and criminal charges — including obstruction of justice and conspiracy to defraud the United States government — is unlikely to be the end of the story.
Even as the settlement removed a major source of uncertainty for the company, other cases loom. Shareholder lawsuits in the US and Europe could cost an additional $10 billion.
US authorities also signalled that investigators will not be constrained by national boundaries. Five of the six people indicted on Wednesday are believed to be in Germany.
The cost of the US settlements drains cash that Volkswagen urgently needs to adapt to technological upheaval. Self-driving cars, car-sharing services and other innovations are expected to upend the industry.
The settlement “is an important step that will help Volkswagen to win back trust in the United States,” said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
©2017 The New York Times News Service
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