U.S. sues Volkswagen for billions over emissions scandal


The U.S. Justice Department sued Volkswagen on Monday for billions of dollars in penalties over claims that the automaker installed devices meant to evade fuel emissions standards in nearly 600,000 diesel engine vehicles, ABC News reports.
The complaint the U.S. filed is civil as opposed to criminal, and doesn't carry any charges for Volkswagen executives — factors The New York Times notes may reflect poorly on an Obama administration newly committed to cracking down on corporate crime.
In September, Volkswagen admitted to using so-called defeat devices in 11 million of their vehicles worldwide. In the U.S., vehicles with the cheat devices installed were said to have emitted pollutants at up to 40 times the legal level.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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