Nearly one week ago, the first Volkswagen employee to be charged in the diesel emissions “defeat device” scandal entered into a plea agreement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The man, James Liang, age 62, could face up to five years in prison. VW engineer Liang pleaded guilty in emissions conspiracy and the plea agreement was entered into in a Detroit District Court.
Nearly one week ago, the first Volkswagen employee to be charged in the diesel emissions “defeat device” scandal entered into a plea agreement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The man, James Liang, age 62, could face up to five years in prison. VW engineer Liang pleaded guilty in emissions conspiracy and the plea agreement was entered into in a Detroit District Court.
The nearly decade-long conspiracy involved defrauding U.S. regulators and customers, violating the Clean Air Act and committing wire fraud. The wire fraud charge, perhaps the least obvious to some, is based in the fact that Liang and his co-conspirators intended to profit from the fraudulent “defeat device” and “used (or caused another to use) wire, radio or television communications in interstate or foreign commerce” to carry out their plan, according to the plea-agreement.
While VW has promised $16.5B to take care of U.S. state, owner and environmental claims, the German company issued a statement regarding Liang saying, “Volkswagen is continuing to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice. We cannot comment on this indictment.”
Mr. Liang’s lawyer, Daniel V. Nixon, issued an email statement to Ars Technica saying, “Mr. Liang came to court in Detroit today to accept responsibility for his actions. He is one of many at Volkswagen who got caught up in the emissions scandal and he is very remorseful for what took place.”
It takes courage to admit to one’s wrongdoings. It takes even more courage to do so when one could end up in prison for five years, as well as owing a fine of a quarter-million dollars and up to three-years of supervised release. The latter is similar to probation; however it is imposed in addition to prison time, not as a substitute for it. Mr. Liang’s sentencing hearing is January 11, 2017.
Mr. Liang has promise to assist the DOJ in its continuing investigations in exchange for protection against further evidence being used against him. He currently resides in California and was employed by the diesel development department at VW in Wolfsburg, Germany from 1983 to 2008.
The story Mr. Liang tells of the conspiracy is almost like a crime novel. When he and other engineers began developing the EA 189 diesel engine in 2006, they discovered they couldn’t satisfy both U.S. air quality regulations and customer expectations. That’s when the team started looking at the illegal “defeat device” software.
The prosecutors argue that when the VW team met with the EPA in Michigan in 2007 for the purpose of explaining the diesel technology being used, they kept quiet about the “defeat device.” Mr. Liang worked to “calibrate and refine the defeat device” in 2008 and moved to the U.S. that year to assist with “certification, testing, and warranty issues” for the models involved. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Liang then ran the 2014 test that helped keep the emissions “defeat device” a secret.
The “defeat device” essentially sensed when vehicles were on the road or in the lab and adjusted the nitrogen oxide emissions accordingly. The vehicles always passed emissions tests but were huge nitrogen oxide polluters when actually driven.
The next chapter in the novel had the “defeat devices” appearing in 2009 VW diesels vehicles. The illegal software continued to do its duty up until it was found out and publicized in 2015. According to the plea agreement, “During this time, Liang and his co-conspirators knew that VW marketed VW diesel vehicles to the US public as ‘clean diesel’ and environmentally-friendly, and [VW] promoted the increased fuel economy.” Hence, the wire fraud charge.
While almost half a million 2.0L VW diesel vehicles are equipped with the “defeat devices,” there are 3.0L vehicles with the illegal technology, too. However, the 3.0L vehicles don’t appear anywhere in Mr. Liang’s plea agreement.
As all good novels must have, this story has a twist. Warranty claims for earlier VW diesels were on the rise as the vehicles aged. What were the claims? Emissions control systems “malfunctions.” According to prosecutors, certain of Mr. Liang’s co-conspirators allegedly thought this was due to the “defeat devices” failing to switch from “testing mode” to “road mode.” In other words, the claims were coming in because the emissions systems were actually working properly.
According to the plea agreement, “Liang worked with his co-conspirators to enhance the defeat device to allow the vehicle to more easily recognize when the vehicle was no longer in testing mode.”
As often happens in such scandals, the top brass at VW have passed the buck, blaming individual engineers for the illegal technology. These claims may or may not be true. However, “attorneys general in New York, Maryland, and Massachusetts claim that Volkswagen’s top officials knew much about the secret software.”
If that is proven to be true with Mr. Liang’s help, the top brass’ attempts to let “emissions” roll downhill, may backfire in their faces.
Sources:
Volkswagen engineer pleads guilty in emissions scandal
Volkswagen engineer pleads guilty in emissions scandal [Updated]
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