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VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

reuters.com

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Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#81

Post by rurban »

fluxsauce wrote: post #6

Not questioning his innocence, but will the executives involved be held to the same legal standard? EDIT: FTA > U.S. prosecutors have charged eight current and former Volkswagen executives in connection with the diesel emissions cheating probe. Liang is one of the lowest-ranking executives charged so far. > Another VW executive, Oliver Schmidt, has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in Detroit on Dec. 6.…

> but will the executives involved be held to the same legal standard

Yes, they will, but Germany will not extradite them. They already made that clear. And it is very unlikely that the german court system will prosecute them. Haven't heard anything yet, because this might inflict the politicians who backed this Diesel emission testing system for decades. They didn't even go to the technical root yet.

Only one made the mistake to go for his holidays to Florida, so he was caught.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#82

Post by PhasmaFelis »

LoSboccacc wrote: post #69
vmarsy wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is already such incentives for companies defrauding the government [1] : "Qui tam" where the whistleblower can receive "between 15% and 25% of any award or settlement amount" on cases like this seems to be a pretty huge incentive. Look at the "Example" section in [1]: - 2009 : [...] was awarded $51.5 million for his role as a whistleblower 102 million that was distributed between the six whistleblowers [...] wh…

seems little for a lifetime of unemployment

Are you kidding? $3.6 million is enough to retire and live comfortably for the rest of your life.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#83

Post by [deleted] »

ballenf wrote: post #22

There's a flip side implication of this decision: it gives tremendous autonomy to engineers to stand up to management. It can empower legions of engineers to do the right thing when faced with pressure to do wrong. Maybe I'm trying too hard to find a silver lining. I'm angered at the hypocrisy of the management getting to sleep in their own beds for the next 40 months and their kids having no indication of their pare…

[deleted]

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#84

Post by PhasmaFelis »

angersock wrote: post #11
rmason wrote: post #2

Here's a case where a guys boss instructs him to write code that lets the company cheat emissions tests and to keep quiet about it. I wonder if he's thought that it would have been far better to have refused, even if it meant losing his job.

Not only that, but the dude apparently cooperated with the investigators. Fuck the judicial system in the US.

You seem to think he didn't actually do anything wrong. Why is that?

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#85

Post by sqeaky »

alxmdev wrote: post #75
sqeaky wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article flatly says that this person an executive and that several other executives were charged. This thread is fulling of people who didn't read a tiny well written article.

I wouldn't say it's a well written article, it's confusing and ambiguous regarding the sentenced individual's role and position in the company. That makes all the difference between this being a slap on the wrist or a more meaningful reprimand.

It states that several other executives were charged. Even if this one person isn't an executive that one sentence makes it clear it this is more than a slap on the wrists for volkswagon.

I suppose it might not well written, but it certainly is concise. This took me about 90 seconds to read in full. That is entirely reasonable to read before posting.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#86

Post by norikki »

jonas21 wrote: post #63
ballenf wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I had read it closely, but did miss the detail regarding his executive status. The implication remains, however, that higher executives were the source of the pressure to defraud. Maybe it was his idea and maybe they did get the "right" person. Pleading guilty, however, is as much a sign of pragmatic intelligence as actual guilt, especially when dealing with federal law enforcement in the US.

One higher executive (Oliver Schmidt) has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The others are German citizens living in Germany and can't be extradited. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/business/volkswagen-diese...

Yes because criminally corrupt executives can not be extradided, but if Julian Assange steps outside he'll get a bag over his head and a one-way trip to Guantanamo Bay.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#87

Post by sctb »

btian wrote: post #8

No. Nothing will happen to top executives. There's a lot of insight as to why from "The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives"

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15101170 and marked it off-topic.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#88

Post by kbenson »

norikki wrote: post #86
jonas21 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One higher executive (Oliver Schmidt) has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The others are German citizens living in Germany and can't be extradited. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/business/volkswagen-diese...

Yes because criminally corrupt executives can not be extradided, but if Julian Assange steps outside he'll get a bag over his head and a one-way trip to Guantanamo Bay.

Doubtful. He would possibly have to stand trial for specific charges, whether or not they are ultimately rooted in truth.

Keep in mind that Assange is essentially the head of a news organization, and famous himself (in a related fashion). He can say both facts and opinions and they will be picked up and carried by others without checking the veracity or likelihood of being true because of his celebrity. Additionally, people will exaggerate his claims based on their own agendas. It's worth looking into the situation before accepting his take on it, or even that of his supporters, verbatim.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#89

Post by dang »

lacksconfidence wrote: post #59
sqeaky wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the article. This guy was an executive and 7 or 8 other executive were charged as well. He happened to be the executive in charge of engineering. He also plead guilty.

Indeed calling him an engineer, while technically true, suggests something different than what happened. He is an executive, not a line engineer.

Ok, we've put "engineering executive" in the title above.

Re: VW engineering executive sentenced to 40-month prison term in diesel case

#90

Post by nwallin »

LoSboccacc wrote: post #69
vmarsy wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is already such incentives for companies defrauding the government [1] : "Qui tam" where the whistleblower can receive "between 15% and 25% of any award or settlement amount" on cases like this seems to be a pretty huge incentive. Look at the "Example" section in [1]: - 2009 : [...] was awarded $51.5 million for his role as a whistleblower 102 million that was distributed between the six whistleblowers [...] wh…

seems little for a lifetime of unemployment

If you stick $3.6m in a mutual fund and assume 5% returns, (which is extremely conservative) you'll maintain $180k indefinitely. Unless you waste it all on hookers, blow, and Lamborghinis you'll live pretty comfortably for life.
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