Judge Sustains RICO and State Law Claims Against Volkswagen and Bosch in Volkswagen Dieselgate Lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, overseeing the landmark Volkswagen Dieselgate lawsuits, issued an order allowing the RICO and state law claims of consumers who sold their affected vehicles prior to the disclosure of the fraud to continue, according to Hagens Berman.

The order upholds the claims of tens of thousands of prior owners of affected diesel vehicles that Bosch and Volkswagen participated in a conspiracy to create and implement an emissions cheating defeat device in nearly 600,000 cars sold in the United States. The Dieselgate fraud, plaintiffs state, harmed all purchasers of affected vehicles (whether or not they still owned the cars when the fraud was disclosed) because they: (1) paid a premium and/or financing fees for features that they never received; and (2) the premiums caused their vehicles to depreciate more than cars without the premium diesel features would have depreciated over the same period of ownership. Judge Breyer agreed, finding that Plaintiffs had adequately alleged Article III standing to bring their claims. read more »