大众汽车因柴油排放丑闻支付28亿罚款
美国一名法官于周五责令大众汽车支付一笔28亿的刑事罚款，因为大众汽车在柴油排放测试中作弊，并批准了与美国政府谈判的一个协议，其内容是由大众策划的一个“巨大的骗局”。美国地方法官肖恩·科斯在判决听证会上坚持之前和大众达成的辩诉交易，六个星期前大众承认，在一项涉及美国将近60万辆柴油车的计划中，犯下了阴谋和妨碍司法公正的罪名。他们打算在车子测试的时候打开污染控制系统，但正式上路时关掉它。从德国——这一全球汽车工业的中心——的法官那里听到这些事实后，科斯说他对大众竟然会犯下这样的罪行而感到震惊。
这个企业的贪婪伤害到了谁？在我看来，不是大众的经理，他们仍然拿到高额的薪酬和巨大的分红，而是那些小人物，一直以来都是这样的
法官肖恩·科斯，小人物是指汽车买家和在大众工作的蓝领工人，工人们以后的薪酬可能会减少。
在2015年9月，有报道曝光大众汽车故意在排放测试中作弊，至少长达六年。这一次的曝光导致了当时的首席执行官被革职，而且有损大众在全球的声誉，还付出了巨额的赔款。今年三月，大众承认欺骗、妨碍司法公正和篡改记录等三项罪名。辩诉协议中要求“机构缓刑”，就是派出一名独立监督员监督大众汽车三年时间。大众汽车的法律总顾问曼费尔德·杜艾斯，也是大众汽车的代表发言人，说现在的大众和十八个月以前的被曝光丑闻的大众相比，已经焕然一新。
大众对于引发此次案件所做出的行为深表歉意……很显然，这是错误的行为，我们让公众失望了，对此我们十分抱歉。
大众汽车法律总顾问曼费尔德·杜艾斯
Volkswagen to pay 2.8 billion criminal penalty in the United States for cheating on diesel emissions tests, blessing a deal negotiated by the government for a "massive fraud" orchestrated by the German automaker. U.S. District Judge Sean Cox stuck to the plea deal during the sentencing hearing, six weeks after VW pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice in a scheme involving nearly 600,000 diesel cars in the U.S. They were programmed to turn on pollution controls during testing and off while on the road. Speaking from the bench in the heart of the global auto industry, Cox said he was amazed that VW would commit such a crime.
Who has been hurt by this corporate greed? From what I can see, it's not the managers at VW, the ones who get paid huge salaries and large bonuses. As always it's the little guy.
Judge Sean Cox, referring to car buyers and VW's blue-collar workers who might earn less in the future
The September 2015 disclosure that VW intentionally cheated on emissions tests for at least six years led to the ouster of its chief executive, damaged the company's reputation around the world and resulted in massive fines and payouts. The German automaker pleaded guilty in March to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements. The plea agreement calls for "organization probation," which allows for the company to be overseen by an independent monitor for three years. Speaking on behalf of Volkswagen, general counsel Manfred Doess said the company is not the same one that was caught 18 months ago.
Volkswagen deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to this case. … Plain and simple, it was wrong. We let people down, and for that we're deeply sorry.
VW general counsel Manfred Doess
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