⚖️ Volkswagen Dieselgate bill: $33B+ in fines, buybacks, payouts
VW pleaded guilty in 2017 and has paid over $33B, AP reports. Winterkorn denies wrongdoing; his German trial was suspended in 2025. ⏳
By MrMoney, business desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 3 min read
ON RECORDPhoto: Volkswagen AG · CC BY 3.0What we know
- Volkswagen pleaded guilty in January 2017 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate the Clean Air Act, customs violations and obstruction of justice, the New York Times reported.
- Judge Sean Cox ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine in April 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- The Justice Department said in June 2016 that Volkswagen would spend up to $14.7 billion to settle US allegations over 2.0-liter diesel cars; Judge Charles Breyer approved the deal in October 2016, USA Today reported.
- AP reported in July 2025 that the company has paid more than $33 billion in fines and compensation to vehicle owners.
- Martin Winterkorn was indicted in the US in May 2018 and charged in Germany in April 2019; he has denied wrongdoing.
Volkswagen pleaded guilty in January 2017 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate the Clean Air Act, plus customs violations and obstruction of justice, the New York Times reported. AP reported in July 2025 that the company has paid more than $33 billion in fines and compensation to vehicle owners. MrMoney has pulled the line items from the filings and the press reports.
The money, in order
| Date | What happened | Amount on record | Who says so |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2016 | US, California and FTC settlement over 2.0-liter diesel cars | Up to $14.7B: up to $10.03B for owners, $4.7B for pollution mitigation and green vehicle technology | Justice Department press release |
| Oct 2016 | Judge Charles Breyer approves the US deal, calling it "fair, reasonable and adequate"; a separate dealer settlement is reported | Buybacks of $12,475 to $44,176 per car; $1.2B for dealers | USA Today |
| Jan 2017 | Guilty plea; US penalties announced | $4.3B in criminal and civil penalties: a $2.8B criminal fine and $1.5B in civil penalties; nearly $154M more to California | USA Today |
| Apr 2017 | Judge Sean Cox sentences the company in Detroit | $2.8B criminal fine | Wall Street Journal |
| Jun 2018 | German prosecutors in Braunschweig fine the company for failing to supervise employees | €1B ($1.2B) | New York Times |
| Feb 2020 | Settlement with the German consumer federation VZBV | €830M for some 260,000 customers, €1,350 to €6,257 each | Deutsche Welle |
| Jul 2025 | Running total reported by AP | More than $33B in fines and compensation to vehicle owners | AP |
Two caveats from the record. The $14.7 billion figure is a ceiling: CNN reported in 2016 that the estimate assumes every affected car is bought back. And the sources read here do not break the $33 billion into parts, so adding the rows will not reproduce it. The New York Times put US payments alone at roughly $26 billion in June 2018.
"Volkswagen obfuscated, they denied and they ultimately lied."
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, quoted by USA Today, 11 January 2017
The people column
Federal prosecutors charged six Volkswagen executives on the day of the plea, the New York Times reported. Five were believed to be in Germany, which does not normally extradite its citizens. The people with sentences on record are fewer than the people charged.
| Person | Role | Outcome on record | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Liang | VW engineer | Pleaded guilty in September 2016 to conspiracy; sentenced to three and a half years in prison | Justice Department; New York Times |
| Oliver Schmidt | VW compliance liaison to US regulators | Pleaded guilty in 2017; sentenced to seven years in prison | LA Times; New York Times |
| Rupert Stadler | Former head of Audi | Suspended sentence of 21 months and a €1.1M fine; subject to appeal | AP, July 2025 |
| Four former VW managers | Including the former head of diesel development | Convicted of fraud in May 2025; four and a half years and two years and seven months in prison for two, suspended sentences of 15 and 10 months for the others | AP, July 2025 |
| Martin Winterkorn | Former chief executive | Indicted in the US and charged in Germany; denies wrongdoing; no conviction in the documents read | LA Times; AP |
The one without a verdict
A US indictment unsealed in Detroit in May 2018 charges former chief executive Martin Winterkorn with conspiracy and wire fraud. It alleges he approved the continued concealment of the defeat device at a July 27, 2015 meeting in Wolfsburg, the LA Times reported. Winterkorn's US lawyer, Steven Molo, said in an email: "We are reviewing the allegations and will take appropriate action." Volkswagen said it "would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases."
The SEC separately charged Volkswagen and Winterkorn in March 2019 with defrauding bond investors; its complaint is an allegation, not a finding. German prosecutors charged him with fraud in April 2019, AP reported. He has said he learned of the practice only shortly before the announcement and testified in civil proceedings that the allegations against him "are not correct," AP reported. In July 2025 the Braunschweig court suspended his trial, with the option to resume it.
The tally, then: a corporate guilty plea, billions in line items, prison terms for a handful of managers, and a former chief executive who denies everything. The ledger is long. The verdict column is shorter.
By the numbers
- 7y 2mfrom first to latest entry on record
- 14receipts behind this story
The Martin Winterkorn file
- Reported
Braunschweig court provisionally suspended his fraud and market manipulation trial, AP reported. This story
- Filed
German prosecutors charged him with fraud and other counts, AP reported. This story
- Filed
SEC charged him and Volkswagen with defrauding bond investors; the complaint seeks penalties. This story
- Filed
Indictment unsealed in Detroit charges him with conspiracy and wire fraud, per the LA Times. This story
On file: The Martin Winterkorn file · The Volkswagen file
The Ledger
On the record
- Volkswagen pleaded guilty in January 2017 and a judge ordered a $2.8B criminal fine; AP counts more than $33B paid in fines and compensation.
- Two former VW employees got US prison terms; AP reports four former managers were convicted in Germany in May 2025.
Still rumour
- The sources read give no itemized breakdown of the $33B, so the table rows are not a verified sum.
- Winterkorn denies wrongdoing; the documents read show no verdict in the US or German cases against him.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMoney
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