Volkswagen Dieselgate engineer jailed

One of the Volkswagen Group’s key engineers has been jailed for 40 months and fined $US200,000 for his role in the Dieselgate conspiracy.

German citizen James Liang assisted US prosecutors to build their cases against other senior Volkswagen Group executives in the global conspiracy, which Judge Sean Cox insisted in US District Court lead to him delivering a lighter sentence.

Prosecutors said Liang, 63, had "provided an insider's perspective of a company that had lost its ethical moorings in pursuit of increased market share and corporate profits."

His attorney had asked the court for a 21-month house-arrest sentence in light of his assistance to prosecutors, while prosecutors had asked for three years, which would have cut two years from the five-year maximum penalty.

Judge Cox, though, argued Liang had been a “key enabler” as a diesel expert with 30 years of service with the Volkswagen Group and that he had been “too loyal” to the company.

Suggesting greed and comfort had been behind Liang’s decision to help break the law with the emissions-cheating conspiracy, Judge Cox pointed out Volkswagen had paid for his rent in a five-bedroom home in an exclusive southern California suburb.

"It seems to me that you certainly didn't want to walk away from this lifestyle in Southern California, with this lifestyle and this income ... which would have been the right thing to do.

"In my mind, this is a serious crime, and it involves a massive fraud on the American consumer, which you knew, and you played a role in."

Next up will be former Volkswagen executive, Oliver Schmidt, who has already pleaded guilty in US Federal Court in Detroit.

Schmidt, who was arrested in Florida trying to return home to Germany after a family holiday, faces seven years in jail and a $US400,000 fine after conspiring to mislead US regulators and to cheat clean-air laws.

He will be sentenced on December 6 after spending nearly a year in prison.
Eight other current or former Volkswagen executives have also been charged in the US over the conspiracy, including former board member for development, Heinz-Jakob Neusser, and two former heads of engine development. As German citizens, they are almost certain not to be extradited.

Picture Credit: WXYZ-TV