"Volkswagen is on the verge of pleading guilty to criminal charges and paying $4.3 billion in fines, in a deal that would resolve a federal criminal investigation into its cheating on vehicle emissions tests, the automaker said on Tuesday.

The expected guilty plea and the recent arrest of a Volkswagen executive on conspiracy charges buck a pattern of companies essentially paying their way out of criminal accusations. While companies often face large fines for wrongdoing, it is far less common for them to admit to breaking the law.

As a result of the deal, Volkswagen could be required to cooperate with investigations into individual company employees, accelerating the pace of those cases."

Jack Ewing and Hiroko Tabuchi report for the New York Times January 10, 2017. [2]