Volkswagen’s woes continue to get worse as time goes on. Now, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the automaker is in a pickle with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ launched its own criminal investigation into VW's installation of defeat devices on diesel-powered cars that falsified results during emissions testing. The report claims that the department found that there were criminal actions in this case, including concealing information from government officials and wire fraud.
According to the report, criminal charges are not being considered—yet—but there are bound to be financial penalties. This threat of fiscal impact has resulted in the opening of negotiations between the DOJ and VW.
Volkswagen is already in the hole $14.7 billion for the cheating scandal. This money is earmarked for buying back vehicles, repairing them and making them compliant with emission regulations, investing in future zero-emissions technology, and more. Reports indicate that the DOJ could add several billion in penalties to this. At the very least, it should be a good bit more than the $1.2 billion Toyota paid to settle the criminal investigation into its unintended-acceleration issue.
We’ll keep monitoring this negotiation process and bring you updates as they become available.
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