The former head of Volkswagen’s luxury division Audi pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges tied to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, becoming the highest-ranking executive convicted over cars that cheated on emissions tests with the help of illegal software.
Rupert Stadler answered “yes” to wrongdoing and regret for his failure to keep rigged cars off the market even after the scandal had become public, the dpa news agency reported.
He entered the plea under a pact with the judge and prosecutors that provides probation instead of jail time and orders him to pay a $1.2-million fine in return for a thorough admission of guilt.
