Volkswagen corporate executives were accused of cheating on the pollution emissions test on millions of its vehicles that were sold in the United States.

Volkswagen (VW) eventually admitted that it had installed

“defeat device” software in its diesel models. The software detected when the car was being tested and changed its performance to improve the test outcome. As a result, the diesel cars showed low emissions—a feature that made the cars more attractive to today’s consumers and also allowed Volkswagen to pass strict pollution tests in the United States and in other countries. What do you think the various courts ruled in response to VW’s fraudulent behavior? Do you think that VW’s top executives should have been guilty of any crimes? Why do you think those top executives did what they did?