Four Audi leaders accused of the emission failure scandal

A large jury in Michigan announced on Thursday four engineers in German automaker Audi in connection with a diesel emissions scandal scandal. (AP Photo / Christophe Ena, File)

On Thursday, a federal grand jury of Michigan reported four engineers in German automaker Audi in connection with an extended diesel emissions scandal.

Richard Bauder, Axel Eiser, Stefan Knirsch and Carsten Nagel were named a 1[ads1]2-count accusation charging them with breaches of the Federal Clean Air Act, as well as fraud and conspiracy.

Spokesman for the Justice Department told The Associated Press that none of the four were in custody and they were believed to be in Germany. A spokesman for Volkswagen, who owns Audi, told the AP that he could not comment on whether the men were still working for the company.

It is unlikely that any of the German citizens will meet an American judge in the case. Germany's constitution prohibits the extradition of its citizens other than to another EU Member State or to an international court.

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The charge alleges that Bauder, Eiser, Knirsch and Nagel helped develop and implement so-called "defeat units" designed to cheat emission tests for three liters diesels.

According to court documents, Bauder was head of Audi & # 39; s diesel engine development department in Neckarsulm, Germany, from 2002 until around February 2012. Eiser had the same position in Ingolstadt, Germany, from 2009 to May 2013. Knirsch had the same position in Ingolstadt from May 2013 to May 2015, and was also a member of Audi's chairman of the board. Nagel was head of Audi's Motor Registration and Testing in Neckarsulm from 2002 to February 2017.

The accused said the employees realized that they could not create a diesel engine with a fluid storage tank to process diesel emissions "within the design constraints imposed by Audi, including the need for a large trunk and high-end sound system. "So, they and co-conspirators have supposedly designed software to cheat the emission tests so they could pass with a smaller tank for the liquid.

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Tests conducted by Nagel and others found that nitric oxide emissions from vehicles with diesel engines were up to 22 times above the US border, indicating the charge. The results were shared with Knirsch and Nagel, according to the accusation.

The document also claimed that the suspects covered up the defeat units when they talked to US officials and knew that "if they had told the truth and revealed [device’s] existence … Audi would not have obtained the necessary [compliance] certificates .. and would not be legally allowed to sell the subject vehicles in the United States. "

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Thursday's charge means that 13 VW employees have been charged in the scandal, VW used software of about 600,000 cars to turn on pollution controls during EPA tests and turn them off while on the road. Two have pleaded guilty and were sentenced to imprisonment, while six others, including former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, have lived in Germany.

Volkswagen pleaded guilty in 2016 to criminal charges in the scandal and pay more than $ 30 billion

Fox News & # 39; Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.