Audi to pay $930M fine in emissions scandal

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Audi agreed to pay a $930 million fine to German regulators and admitted its role in a large-scale emissions cheating scandal to settle civil claims against the automaker, the company announced.

The settlement concludes regulatory action against Audi by the Munich public prosecutor, but does not resolve a criminal investigation into executives.

The Tuesday announcement comes two weeks after Volkswagen AG, Audi's parent company, fired Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, who's been in jail in Germany since June.

Stadler was arrested June 18 in Munich on suspicion of fraud. He has denied any involvement in the scandal.

Audi, Volkswagen's luxury car division and a major revenue source, was accused of selling at least 210,000 diesel-engine cars in the United States and Europe fitted with cheating software for emissions.

Audi also was under investigation over allegations of fraud and illegal product promotion.

Volkswagen and Audi admitted in 2015 the companies used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests. The "defeat devices" keep emissions under the legal threshold during testing, but return them to illegal levels after the tests are finished.