大眾管理層“授權隱瞞”排放作弊行為

Volkswagen’s senior management was briefed in the summer of 2015 on the cheating software at the centre of the company’s diesel emissions scandal, and ordered its continued concealment, according to criminal charges unsealed by US prosecutors on Monday.

美國檢察官周一披露的刑事起訴文件顯示，大眾汽車(Volkswagen)高管在2015年夏聽取了關于處于柴油排放丑聞核心的作弊軟件的匯報，并指示繼續(xù)隱瞞。

VW employees briefed “executive management” in July 2015 at the German carmaker’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, about the use of software-based defeat devices to understate emissions in official tests, says a criminal complaint about the company’s former head of compliance in the US.

據(jù)一份對大眾前美國合規(guī)主管提起刑事訴訟的文件顯示，2015年7月，大眾員工在德國沃爾夫斯堡的大眾總部，向“行政管理層”匯報了在官方排放測試中使用基于軟件的減效裝置來低報排放數(shù)據(jù)的情況。

“Rather than advocate for disclosure of the defeat device to US regulators, VW executive management authorised its continued concealment,” adds the complaint.

刑事起訴文件寫道：“大眾行政管理層授權繼續(xù)隱瞞，而不是要求向美國監(jiān)管機構披露減效裝置。”

The VW employees allegedly involved in the briefing included Oliver Schmidt, a VW veteran who was head of compliance in the US in 2012 and 2015 and is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in Miami.

涉嫌參與了匯報的大眾員工包括在2012年至2015年擔任大眾美國合規(guī)主管的奧利弗•施密特(Oliver Schmidt)。施密特是大眾的資深員工，于周一在邁阿密接受傳訊。

The conduct outlined in the criminal complaint raises the likelihood that some more senior VW executives in Germany and the US could face charges, said one Department of Justice official.

美國司法部的一位官員表示，刑事起訴文件中列舉的行為提升了更高級別的大眾德國和美國高管面臨指控的可能性。

It comes at a time when VW is seeking to finalise a criminal settlement with the US authorities over the emissions scandal.

目前大眾正尋求與美國當局就排放丑聞達成刑事和解。

Such a deal would be a milestone in VW’s efforts to draw a line under the affair, which has become the worst crisis in the company’s history.

這一和解將是大眾為了結此事所做努力的一個里程碑——排放丑聞已成為該公司歷史上最嚴重的危機。

Mr Schmidt is accused of conspiring for nearly a decade to conceal from US regulators the existence of defeat devices in VW diesel cars, according to the criminal complaint filed in federal court in Detroit.

在底特律聯(lián)邦法庭提交的刑事起訴文件顯示，施密特被控在近十年時間里密謀向美國監(jiān)管機構隱瞞大眾柴油車減效裝置的存在。

He is also accused of defrauding the US by impairing the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions control programme, cheating VW customers, and violating the Clean Air Act.

他還被控欺騙美國，破壞美國國家環(huán)境保護局(Environmental Protection Agency)的排放控制項目、欺騙大眾汽車的消費者、以及違反《清潔空氣法》(Clean Air Act)。

For several weeks before VW admitted to US regulators in September 2015 that its diesel cars had cheated emissions tests, employees worried about the danger of criminal penalties for their actions, says the criminal complaint.

刑事起訴文件顯示，在大眾2015年9月向美國監(jiān)管機構承認其柴油車在排放測試中作弊之前的數(shù)周時間里，員工們擔心他們的行為可能遭受刑事處罰。

VW’s “executive management” in Wolfsburg requested a briefing on the US situation, which took place on July 27 2015, says the criminal complaint.

刑事起訴文件顯示，大眾在沃爾夫斯堡的“行政管理層”要求聽取有關美國情況的匯報，匯報是在2015年7月27日進行的。

For that briefing, Mr Schmidt and several colleagues prepared a slide on the potential outcomes of a meeting with California regulators scheduled for the following week.

施密特和數(shù)位同事為此次匯報準備了幻燈片，描述了在接下來的一周與加州監(jiān)管機構會晤的潛在后果。

A “positive” meeting would result in the needed certification to sell VW cars in the US. But a “negative” outcome raised the question “Indictment?”, according to the criminal complaint.

起訴文件顯示，一場“積極”會晤將會讓大眾獲得在美國銷售汽車所需的牌照，但一場“消極”會晤可能引發(fā)“起訴?”的問題。

Mr Schmidt’s arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation marks the latest development in a scandal dating back more than a decade. In 2006, VW engineers realised that a new diesel engine they had designed would not be powerful enough to satisfy car owners and not green enough to pass muster with regulators.

施密特被美國聯(lián)邦調查局(FBI)逮捕標志著這項可追溯到十多年前的丑聞的最新發(fā)展。在2006年，大眾工程師意識到，他們設計的新柴油發(fā)動機沒有令車主滿意的足夠強大的動力，也不符合監(jiān)管機構的環(huán)保要求。

The new engine was the centrepiece of an ambitious strategy to boost VW sales in the US market. Rather than admit defeat, the company wrote software called a defeat device to cheat emissions tests.

這款新的發(fā)動機是大眾擴大在美國市場銷量這一雄心勃勃的戰(zhàn)略的核心。大眾沒有承認失敗，反而編寫了一個被稱為減效裝置的軟件在尾氣排放檢測中作弊。

The device was programmed to recognise when a diesel car was undergoing the government’s standard laboratory tests and operate in accordance with EPA limits.

該裝置能夠識別出柴油汽車何時在接受政府標準實驗室檢測，并在這時根據(jù)美國國家環(huán)境保護局的規(guī)定運行。

But when driven on the road, the software allowed the cars to spew up to 40 times the allowable levels of nitrogen oxide.

但在實際道路行駛時，該軟件可以讓汽車的氮氧化物排放量最高達到規(guī)定水平的40倍。

“VW employees knew that if they had told the truth and disclosed the existence of the defeat device, VW could not have sold any of its diesel vehicles in the United States,” says the criminal complaint.

刑事起訴書稱：“大眾員工知道，如果他們說實話并披露減效裝置的存在，大眾不可能在美國銷售其柴油汽車。”

VW’s scheme began unravelling in early 2014 when a study ordered by the International Council on Clean Transportation, a non-profit organisation, detected the higher readings on the road emissions by VW diesel cars.

2014年初，大眾的計劃開始暴露，當時非營利組織國際清潔運輸委員會(International Council on Clean Transportation)下令展開的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，大眾柴油汽車在實際道路上行駛時的尾氣排放量較高。

In April 2014, after learning of the study’s findings, Mr Schmidt emailed a colleague about the issue: “It should first be decided whether we are honest. If we are not honest, everything stays as it is.”

2014年4月，在得知這項研究的結果后，施密特就此事給一名同事發(fā)送電郵：“首先應該確定我們是否要誠實。如果我們不要誠實，那就一切保持原樣。”

VW formed an ad hoc engineering task force to handle regulators’ questions.

大眾汽車組成了一個特別工程師任務小組來處理監(jiān)管機構的質詢。

“VW employees determined not to disclose to US regulators that the tested vehicle models operated with a defeat device,” says the criminal complaint.

刑事起訴書稱：“大眾員工決定不向美國監(jiān)管機構披露接受檢測的汽車安裝了減效裝置。

“Instead, VW employees pursued a strategy of concealing the defeat device in responding to questions from US regulators, while appearing to co-operate.”

“相反，大眾員工表面上裝出合作的樣子，卻在回答美國監(jiān)管機構的問題時隱瞞了這個減效裝置。”

By the summer of 2015, Mr Schmidt was directly involved in efforts to deal with regulators’ increasingly pointed questions.

到2015年夏，施密特直接參與處理監(jiān)管機構日益尖銳的問題。

James Robert Liang, a VW engineer, in September became the first person to plead guilty to criminal charges, including conspiring to defraud US customers and regulators. He agreed to co-operate with US government investigators in return for leniency.

去年9月，大眾工程師詹姆斯•羅伯特•梁(James Robert Liang)成為首位對刑事指控認罪的大眾員工，這些指控包括合謀欺騙美國消費者和監(jiān)管者。他同意與美國政府調查人員合作，以換取寬大處理。

Prosecutors also are getting help from two other VW insiders, who worked in the company’s engine development department, says the criminal complaint.

刑事起訴書稱，檢察官還得到了另外兩名大眾內(nèi)部人士的幫助，他們曾在大眾發(fā)動機開發(fā)部門工作。

They are co-operating in return for assurances that they will not be prosecuted in the US.

他們與檢方合作的條件是保證他們不會在美國被起訴。

From 2012 to 2015, Mr Schmidt was general manager of VW’s environmental engineering office in Michigan, which was responsible for dealing with US regulatory agencies such as the EPA and the California Air Resources Board.

2012年到2015年，施密特擔任大眾密歇根環(huán)境工程辦公室的總經(jīng)理，該部門負責與美國監(jiān)管機構打交道，例如美國國家環(huán)境保護局和加州空氣資源委員會(California Air Resources Board)。

In March 2015, he was promoted to the post of principal deputy to the head of engine development in Wolfsburg.

2015年3月，他被晉升為位于沃爾夫斯堡的發(fā)動機開發(fā)部門的副主管。