Luxembourg files VW case against 'persons unknown'

Luxembourg has launched a criminal case against 'persons unknown' in response to the diesel emissions scandal at Volkswagen (IOB: 0P6N.IL - news) .

The bizarre filing was made public by the country just two months after Luxembourg, and six other EU nations including the UK, were fingered by Brussels over their handling of emission checks before the cheating came to light.

It was September 2015 when VW admitted that software, designed to limit emissions during official checks, had been fitted in up to 11 million vehicles made by the group worldwide - 1.2 million of them in Britain.

Luxembourg said its case was a direct result of the EU's legal action against the country, which accused it of not imposing the same kind of penalties the carmaker faced in the US.

The group is facing a bill of over $20bn in the US alone - through criminal and civil penalties and associated costs to compensate all drivers affected by the so-called defeat devices.

There are 500,000 owners who are eligible to have their cars bought back by the company.

Luxembourg's infrastructure ministry argued it was a "victim of criminal action" that led it to certify cars it would not have done had emissions tests not been falsified.

Sustainable development minister Francois Bausch said: "We have decided that, as there is a large probability that a defeat device was used, to launch a lawsuit against unknown persons."

The criminal case came to light just hours after a German fish distributor, Deutsche See, announced it was to be the first in the country to sue VW, claiming it misrepresented a fleet of vehicles it leased as environmentally friendly.

VW has always maintained it is not liable to pay compensation to owners of diesels with the software fitted in Europe because laws governing emissions are not as strict as those in America.

It has pledged that every vehicle affected in the UK will have been fixed for free by next winter but that has not satisfied consumer groups or MPs (BSE: MPSLTD.BO - news) who have called on the Government to take a stand.

In addition to some group actions in Europe, VW also remains the subject of criminal inquiries.

The US claims at least 40 individuals were involved in the scandal.

It has charged six German executives with a range of offences including conspiracy to defraud the United States.