The American federal trial of Volkswagen concluded after the German conglomerate pleaded guilty for the Diesel-gate scandal. The American courts have levied a fine of 4.3 billion dollars for flouting rules, conspiracy and fraud.
When the scandal first broke out, the total penalty was estimated to go anywhere between $17 billion to $34 billion. Volkswagen pleaded guilty and worked with the environment agencies to rectify and/or buy back the affected cars, thus helping in bringing down the penalty amount to $2.8 billion in lieu of the criminal charges in violation of the Clean Air Act. An additional fine of $1.45 billion has been levied to settle civil lawsuits with the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Customs. Another fine of $50 million has been levied for violation of the Financial Institutions Reforms, Recovery and Enforcement Act for the loans raised on the affected cars.
The Federal government hopes that such steep fines (approximated Rs 27,500 crores) will deter any further non-compliance or cheating against rules and regulations. A corporate compliance monitor will ensure that VW pays all its dues to the American government and oversee the company’s adherence to regulations for the next three years.
