Schneiderman Sues Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche Over Emissions Cheating
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, along with officials from Massachusetts and Maryland have announced lawsuits against Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche over diesel emissions cheating.
The lawsuits, announced Tuesday, allege that Volkswagen and its affiliates defrauded buyers by selling more than 40,000 vehicles that were equipped with software that concealed the true level of emissions in order to pass government tests.
According to Schneiderman, 14 models were fitted with illegal defeat devices over the last eight years, WCBS 880's Kelly Waldron reported.
"These devices made it appear during emissions testing that the cars were putting out legal amounts of soot and other harmful emissions," Schneiderman said.
Further, the suit says the German automaker submitted false documents to the two states as part of an effort to conceal the cheating, and going as far as to destroy incriminating documents and rewarding those involved with bonus packages of up to $70 million.
The legal action comes after the German automaker agreed to spend up to $15.3 billion to other settle consumer and government lawsuits.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the lawsuits expose "a culture of deeply rooted arrogance'' and should serve as a warning to other companies that illegality will not be tolerated.
A message left with Volkswagen was not immediately returned.
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