(Bloomberg) --

Four ex-Volkswagen AG managers stood trial in Germany accused of fraud for their part in the diesel-rigging scandal that cost the company billions and tarnished its reputation.

The trial -- starting six years after the scandal broke -- is the first criminal case criminal case to target executives at VW’s German headquarters who allegedly backed the idea of dodging emission tests with a software trick. The managers were charged in 2019 with having vehicles equipped with a so-called defeat device in that case that covers 9 million cars sold in Europe and the U.S. 

“As executives, they were decisively responsible for the fact that emissions rules were transgressed in Europe and the U.S.,” prosecutors said at the start of the trial in Braunschweig on Thursday. “The rules were in place to protect the environment and the health of people.”

Volkswagen settled the criminal probe three years ago by paying 1 billion euros to German prosecutors. The diesel-emissions scandal has so far cost the carmaker more than 30 billion euros ($35.3 billion), including hefty sanctions that were part of a deal with U.S. authorities. The company is still facing civil litigation in its home country, including a 9 billion-euro investor class action.

The long-awaited trial has been postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic and hearings are expected to stretch into 2023. The four managers will comment on the allegations later in the trial.

VW’s former Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn was originally charged alongside the four ex-managers but his trial was postponed due to health reasons. The 74-year-old has repeatedly denied the allegations. 

It’s in the interest of the staff, the shareholders and the company as a whole that the facts that lead to the diesel crisis will be brought to light completely, Volkswagen said in an emailed statement. The court will determine what responsibility individuals may have had, the carmaker added.

Alongside the fraud charges, the accused will be tried on tax-evasion allegations. Since the cars received tax breaks for their seemingly reduced emissions, the government lost out on 820,000 euros, according to the charges.

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