SEC accuses Volkswagen of committing ‘massive fraud’ on US investors
US Securities and Exchange Commission says in civil complaint that the German carmaker issued bonds and asset-backed securities in US markets at the time of the diesel emissions scandal
Washington — The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Volkswagen and its former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, over the German carmaker’s diesel emissions scandal, accusing the company of perpetrating a “massive fraud” on US investors. The SEC said in its civil complaint filed in San Francisco late on Thursday that from April 2014 to May 2015, Volkswagen issued more than $13bn in bonds and asset-backed securities in US markets at a time when senior executives knew that more than 500,000 US diesel vehicles grossly exceeded legal vehicle emissions limits. Volkswagen “reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in benefit by issuing the securities at more attractive rates for the company,” the SEC said, adding that VW “repeatedly lied to and misled US investors, consumers, and regulators as part of an illegal scheme to sell its purportedly ‘clean diesel’ cars and billions of dollars of corporate bonds and other securities in the US”. The suit seeks to bar Winterkorn from serving as an ...
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