Major German trial opens against five in VW diesel affair

More than 10 years after the Volkswagen diesel scandal came to light, the third major fraud trial against five defendants began at the Regional Court of Braunschweig.

In an indictment lasting almost two hours, prosecutors presented their charges against the defendants, some of whom are former Volkswagen employees, along with one supplier.

They are accused, among other things, of aiding and abetting commercial fraud and face multi-year prison sentences.

As in the previous two trials, the case centres on the so-called defeat device software, which enabled millions of Volkswagen vehicles to show better emissions values on test rigs than in real-world operation.

The losses suffered by buyers are said to run into the billions.

The defendants are alleged to have helped develop the software or otherwise supported its development at different periods between November 2006 and September 2015.

They are accused of having sought to maximize the company's profits in order to benefit personally through salary and bonus payments. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.