crime

  • Martin Winterkorn

    Former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn was charged with defrauding the U.S. in a Michigan federal court Thursday for his role in the widespread VW diesel emissions scandal. The charges were first reported by Reuters. According to the report, the charges were filed secretly in March and made public Thursday. Winterkorn was CEO of Volkswagen when the automaker admitted it had cheated U.S. emissions tests and its cars illegally polluted up to 40 times more than allowed by federal law. The allegations and eventual admission led to billions erased from the company's coffers, Winterkorn's ouster...

  • 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI SE
    VW engineer gets 40 months in jail, $200K fine, for diesel cheating role

    Former Volkswagen employee James Liang was sentenced in Detroit on Friday to serve 40 months in prison and pay a $200,000 fine for his role in the global Volkswagen diesel-emission cheating scandal. It was a stiffer sentence than expected for an engineer who helped to create software that...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf does 520 Miles in 2 days
    CEO of failed 350Green charging network pleads guilty to fraud

    The former CEO of electric-car charging network 350 Green pleaded guilty last week to fraudulently obtaining federal grants intended to be used for installation of public charging stations, notably in the Chicago area. The original 2011 announcement of the grants came with large fan-fare, but the...

  • Consumer Reports tests 2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel in 'cheat mode,' October 2015 [video frame]
    VW diesel acts were likely criminal, U.S. finds; settlement talks underway

    The proposed $15 billion settlement between Volkswagen and regulators over its emission-cheating diesel cars is winding toward final approval, but VW's miseries are far from over. U.S. attorneys have been investigating the company and its introduction of "defeat device" software to pass EPA...

  • 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI driven to all 48 contiguous states with just $300 of fuel
    How VW Can Atone For Diesel Deception: Electric-Car Advocate's Thoughts

    The full impact of Volkswagen's diesel-emission cheating scandal has yet to be realized, but what it has apparently already admitted to doing could result in the largest civil fine ever levied by the Federal government on an automaker. And that's just the beginning. Besides paying civil penalties...

  • Chicago, by Flickr user Mr Hicks46 (Used under CC License)
    Electric-Car Charging Station Operator 350Green Charged With Fraud

    Former heads of the company contracted of operating Chicago's electric-car charging network are charged with fraud.

  • Vandalized charging cord from 2013 Chevrolet Volt, Venice, Florida [photo: M Cummings / J Brown]

    Owning a plug-in electric car, as buyers learn, is a process of educating the public at large. Mostly, people are curious when they see a car plugged in to recharge. But occasionally, uglier emotions come into play. That's apparently what happened to Matthew Cummings and Jennifer Brown. The couple live in a high-rise condominium apartment in a gated community in Venice, Florida. They have spoken in front of its City Council on local policy issues around public electric-car charging stations and associated usage fees. $25 of power in 3 months When they purchased their 2013 Chevrolet Volt...

  • Fast Charging 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Electric-Car Charging: 15 Hours In Jail For 5 Cents Of Power

    "Opportunity charging" can have serious consequences, as one Atlanta-area Nissan Leaf driver found out recently.

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