'Emission Manipulation' Former Volkswagen Executives Absent from Trial... "Service by Public Notice Underway"

The former general representatives of Audi Volkswagen Korea (AVK), who were indicted for the emission manipulation scandal, failed to appear in court, leading the court to proceed with the trial via public notice delivery.

On the 16th, the Criminal Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Jun-seok) held the first trial for Johannes Thamer, former AVK general representative, and Trevor Hill, former general representative, who were indicted for violating the Air Quality Preservation Act and other charges. The trial was postponed due to the defendants' absence. The trial was scheduled to be held 8 years and 3 months after the indictment in January 2017, and 5 years and 4 months after the preparatory hearing concluded in December 2019. The trial had been delayed as both individuals left the country after indictment and did not respond to the trial. The court issued several summonses, but they were undeliverable due to "unknown recipient."

The court stated regarding former representative Thamer, "We managed this as a permanently unresolved case, but it seems possible to proceed via public notice delivery, so we scheduled the hearing," and announced that the trial would proceed through public notice delivery. The trial for former representative Hill will also proceed via public notice delivery. Public notice delivery is a method where, if legal documents cannot be delivered, the court posts the delivery contents on bulletin boards or official gazettes and considers the contents as delivered. The court set the trial dates for the two individuals as May 20 and July 3, respectively.

Earlier, in January 2017, the prosecution indicted a large number of former and current Volkswagen executives for various illegal acts including emission manipulation, falsification of test reports, and obstruction of the Ministry of Environment’s certification review. According to the prosecution, AVK imported and sold approximately 120,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles of 15 models meeting the 'Euro 5' standard from Germany between 2008 and 2015. These vehicles were designed to emit fewer harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) during certification test modes but emit large amounts during real driving conditions.

Meanwhile, the AVK corporation, which was also tried during the same period, was fined 1.1 billion KRW, and former AVK president Park Dong-hoon received an 8-month prison sentence with a 2-year probation, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2022.