Six Volkswagen executives were indicted Wednesday on federal charges tied to the German automaker’s emissions scandal, and the company agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. air quality laws. The automaker issued a statement Wednesday saying it has fully cooperated with the U.S. investigation and regretted its behavior. The six high-ranking VW executives, all German citizens, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit. Since the emissions cheating became public in September 2015, Volkswagen has agreed to pay a staggering $20 billion in fines, settlements and penalties in an effort to put the scandal in its rearview mirror. The scheme resulted, federal officials said, in the cars’ pumping out nitrogen oxide at levels 40 times higher than permitted under federal law from 2009 through last year.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 11, 2017 18:51 UTC