A Volkswagen manager identified only by his surname, Yun, was sentenced to 18 months jail by a court in in the South Korean capital Seoul recently. He was convicted of document fabrication and violation of an environmental law.
“With this criminal act, which has caused considerable social and economic damage, Volkswagen has undermined its own trustworthiness as a global brand,” the court said.
Yun’s offences related to documents verifying emissions and sound levels for VW’s diesel engines, that were lodged to comply with with local regulations and enable the continued importation of certain Volkswagen and Audi cars into South Korea.
The jailing of Mr Yun comes after the majority of VW’s cars have been banned from sale in South Korea and the company has so far been fined $A63 million.
The head of Audi and Volkswagen in South Korea, Mr Johannes Thammer, is also the subject of a criminal investigation by authorities there.
Other VW personnel in various parts of the world are facing criminal charges, including in the US where an engineer, James Liang, has confessed to wrongdoing related to the diesel scandal and could face up to five years in prison despite his subsequent cooperation with authorities.
Mr Liang was due to be sentenced on February 1 but US District Judge Sean Cox in Detroit issued an order delaying the sentencing until May 3, “to allow more time for defendant’s cooperation in the investigation”.
Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea have plummeted, down almost eight per cent year-on-year and nearly 20 per cent in December, according to data released by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.
The drop is almost exclusively caused by the ban on the sale of cars affected by the diesel emissions scandal. Import approvals for around 80 Audi and VW models were withdrawn last August.
By Daniel Cotterill
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