The criminal trial against former VW boss Martin Winterkorn has been suspended until further notice for health reasons. The process, which has been running since the beginning of September, will not continue until the beginning of 2025 at the earliest.
The criminal trial against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn in the diesel affair will not continue until early 2025 at the earliest. The Braunschweig regional court announced that the main hearing would be suspended following an accident involving the 77-year-old. The trial had already been postponed in mid-September due to the ex-manager’s injury. According to the court, Winterkorn injured himself so badly that he had to be hospitalized.
According to a medical report, it is now clear that Winterkorn “will not be able to take part in court hearings for at least the next few months,” the court said. This means that the hearing cannot be continued within the legally required interruption period.
New start in the first quarter?
It is now being examined whether a new schedule for the first quarter of 2025 is possible. Details about the accident at home a week ago and Winterkorn’s current state of health are not known.
Court proceedings can generally be interrupted for a maximum of three weeks before they have to be rescheduled. Longer deadlines are only provided if a procedure has been running for a long time.
Winterkorn rejects allegations
Nine years after the emissions manipulation at the Wolfsburg car manufacturer was exposed, the trial against Winterkorn only began at the beginning of September. The former CEO denied any guilt. “Our client firmly rejects the allegations made against him. We are confident that we will achieve a good result for our client,” said his defense attorney Felix Dörr.
The 77-year-old is accused of commercial fraud, market manipulation and unsworn false statements in the proceedings before the Commercial Criminal Chamber. Winterkorn is said to have deceived VW buyers about the quality of the cars and deliberately failed to inform the capital market in a timely manner about the risks of fines in the crucial days of September 2015. He is also said to have testified falsely about this before the Bundestag investigative committee in 2017. The presumption of innocence applies.
Not for the first time health problems
Winterkorn was actually supposed to be in the dock with four other ex-VW managers and engineers in the first major fraud trial in Braunschweig in 2021. Shortly before the start of this procedure, his complex was separated for health reasons and should now be made up. Almost 90 dates were scheduled for the criminal trial until September 2025.