美國起訴大衆尾氣作弊 罰款或超190億美元

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department sued the German automaker Volkswagen in federal court Monday, saying that the company installed illegal devices in nearly 600,000 diesel engine systems to impair emissions controls, that way increasing harmful air pollution.

華盛頓——司法部週一向聯邦法院起訴德國汽車生產商大衆汽車(Volkswagen)，稱其在近60萬套柴油發動機系統中安裝了非法裝置，破壞尾氣排放控制系統，導致有害的空氣污染增加。

But despite a pledge by the Justice Department in September to go after executives responsible for corporate wrongdoing, federal prosecutors stopped short of criminal charges and did not single out individuals. They did question Volkswagen’s efforts to restore its credibility, accusing the company of being uncooperative — even recently — with regulators.

儘管司法部曾在9月承諾追究應對企業違法行爲負責的高管的責任，但聯邦檢察官此次並未提出刑事指控，也未針對相關個體。他們的確質疑了大衆爲恢復自己的信譽所採取的行動，指責其即便是在最近，也不與監管機構合作。

The civil complaint was filed in Detroit on Monday. In September, Volkswagen admitted that it had installed the software created to cheat on emissions tests in 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, setting off one of the largest corporate scandals in auto industry.

週一當天，這起民事訴訟在底特律提交。去年9月，大衆承認安裝了相關軟件，在全球範圍內的1100萬輛柴油車的尾氣測試中做假。此事引爆了汽車行業歷史上最大的企業醜聞之一。

Since then, regulators in the United States and Canada have accused the company of also installing devices to cheat emissions on some vehicles with larger engines, a claim Volkswagen has disputed. Federal prosecutors on Monday said the company had “impeded and obstructed” regulators’ inquiries and provided “misleading information.” The accusation on Monday deals only with the nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the United States.

自那時以來，美國和加拿大的監管機構指責該公司還在一些發動機較大的車型上安裝了用來在排放測試中作弊的裝置。大衆反駁了這一說法。聯邦檢察官週一表示，該公司“阻撓和妨礙”監管部門的調查，並提供“誤導信息”。週一的指控僅針對在美國售出的近60萬輛大衆車。

Since the scandal broke, the company’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, has resigned, nine employees have been suspended, and the company has begun the twin tasks of designing fixes for the vehicles and containing consumer outrage and litigation. The Justice Department’s suit and its accusation of continuing obstruction were fresh blows to its new chief executive, Matthias Müller, and will only make the task of damage control more difficult.

醜聞爆出後，大衆首席執行官文德恩(Martin Winterkorn)辭職，九名員工停職。公司也開啓了自己的兩大任務：設計針對相關車輛的解決方案；控制消費者的怒火及訴訟。司法部此次起訴並指控大衆持續妨礙調查，是對公司新任首席執行官馬蒂亞斯·穆勒(Matthias Müller)的最新打擊，只會讓止損的任務變得更加艱難。

In a statement, Volkswagen, which includes the brands Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini, said it “will continue to work cooperatively with the E.P.A. on developing remedies” to bring its diesel vehicles “into full compliance with regulations as soon as possible.” The company also said it was working “to develop an independent, fair and swift process for resolving private consumer claims relating to these issues.”

大衆旗下品牌還包括奧迪(Audi)、保時捷(Porshe)和蘭博基尼(Lamborghini)。在聲明中，大衆稱“將繼續與美國國家環境保護局(EPA)合作，制定補救措施”，讓旗下柴油車“儘快完全符合規定”。公司還表示正在努力“形成一套獨立、公正而迅速的程序，解決私人消費者有關這些問題的索賠。”

Regulators across the globe, including in India, South Korea and Germany, are conducting their own investigations, as are attorneys general in all 50 states. But the Justice Department has been seen as the only agency that might hold executives personally accountable.

和全美50個州的檢察長一樣，全球範圍內的監管機構都在對大衆進行調查，包括印度、韓國和德國。但美國司法部被認爲是唯一一個有可能會追究高管個人責任的機構。

“With today’s filing, we take an important step to protect public health by seeking to hold Volkswagen accountable for any unlawful air pollution, setting us on a path to resolution,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “So far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. These discussions will continue in parallel with the federal court action.”

“通過今天的起訴，我們尋求讓大衆對非法空氣污染負責，從而邁出了保護公衆健康的重要一步，讓我們踏上了解決問題的道路，”EPA負責環境執法與合規辦公室的助理局長辛西婭·賈爾斯(Cynthia Giles)說。“迄今爲止，與該公司就召回事宜進行的討論尚未得出一個可以接受的方案。這些討論將和聯邦法院的行動同時進行。”

Given the cascade of revelations, the civil complaint, which does not involve criminal charges or auto executives facing charges, is something of a blow to the Obama administration’s highly promoted new strategy for getting tough on corporate crime. The Justice Department has gained a reputation in recent years for forcing companies to pay big fines, while sparing the executives involved. In September, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates said that impression had weakened public confidence and vowed to change it.

對企業犯罪採取強硬行動是奧巴馬政府大力宣傳的一項新策略。考慮到此次醜聞的規模，這起民事訴訟既不涉及刑事指控，也沒有波及高管，是對該策略的某種打擊。近年來，司法部得到了不良聲譽，被指一貫迫使企業繳納鉅額罰款、卻讓高管安然脫身。去年9月，司法部副部長莎莉·Q·耶茨(Sally Q. Yates)表示這種印象削弱了公衆對司法部的信任，併發誓要予以扭轉。

“Corporations can only commit crimes through flesh-and-blood people,” Ms. Yates said as she announced the new policy, which encouraged prosecutors to set their sights on prosecuting corporate executives from the beginning of investigations.

“企業只能通過血肉之軀的人進行犯罪，” 耶茨在宣佈新政策時說。這項政策鼓勵檢察官從調查一開始就着眼於起訴企業高管。

Two weeks later, the Justice Department opened its investigation into Volkswagen.

兩週後，司法部啓動了對大衆的調查。

The government is seeking an array of penalties against the company, including fines and further actions to mitigate the emission of harmful pollutants. The complaint does not specify actions the company must take to further reduce emissions, nor does it name a dollar figure for the penalty. Those will be decided by a federal court.

聯邦政府尋求對大衆採取一系列懲罰措施，包括罰款和減緩有害污染物排放的進一步行動。訴狀中並未明確指出大衆要爲進一步削減排放而必須採取的行動，也未提出罰款金額。這些均將由聯邦法院裁決。

Under the Clean Air Act, the company could be fined up to $32,500 for each 2-liter diesel vehicle with the illegal software (about 499,000 autos) and up to $37,000 for each 3-liter vehicle with the software (about 85,000). Added together and the penalty could top $19 billion.

根據《清潔空氣法》(Clean Air Act)，大衆公司每輛安裝了非法軟件的2升柴油車（約49.9萬輛）的罰款可達3.25萬美元，每輛3升柴油車（約8.5萬輛）的罰款可達3.7萬美元。罰款加起來或許會超過190億美元。

Justice Department officials said that the complaint represented the first step in legal action against Volkswagen and did not preclude a criminal charge.

司法部的官員稱，此次訴訟代表着對大衆採取法律行動的第一步，不排除提出刑事指控的可能。

Environmental and public health advocates said the government should push forward with further charges.

倡導環境和公共衛生議題的人士稱，政府應當推動進一步的指控。

“The government should follow up with criminal charges against both VW and its management to protect our health from auto pollution and signal other automakers that it will throw the book at any company that follows VW’s lead,” Dan Becker, director of the safe-climate campaign at the Center for Auto Safety, wrote in an email.

“政府應該繼續對大衆及其管理層提出刑事指控，從而保護我們的健康不受汽車污染的影響，並向其他汽車廠商發出信號，表明它會嚴懲任何膽敢效仿大衆的公司，”汽車安全中心(Center for Auto Safety)安全氣候宣傳項目的主管丹·貝克爾(Dan Becker)通過電子郵件接受採訪時表示。