“April 3, 2017, was a very cold, rainy day, and it was my first day working at Volkswagen,” Dr. Kurt Michels began.
It was the chief compliance officer’s opening remark in a fireside chat at the Compliance Week Europe 2020 Virtual Conference this week. Michels was hired after the company earlier that year pled guilty to installing defeat devices, designed to cheat U.S. emissions tests, in more than half a million vehicles sold to Americans. In total, the company paid more than $30 billion worldwide in fines, settlements, and remediation as part of the “Dieselgate” scandal. This past September, it successfully completed a three-year compliance monitorship headed by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.
