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German Probe Could Expand to Entire VW Board
Prosecutors in Germany, who already are investigating two Volkswagen AG management board members into possible market manipulation, could expand the probe to the entire board, Reuters reports.
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Prosecutors in Germany, who already are investigating two Volkswagen AG management board members into possible market manipulation, could expand the probe to the entire board, Reuters reports.
At issue is whether the executives should have alerted investors sooner about VW’s diesel emissions scandal. The company admitted last Sept. 22 that it had rigged 11 million diesel-powered vehicles to evade emission laws.
The current investigation by prosecutors in Brunswick (Braunschweig) targets former CEO Martin Winterkorn and former VW brand chief Herbert Diess. The probe was triggered by a complaint from BaFin, Germany’s financial watchdog.
A source tells Reuters that BaFin’s complaint is against everyone who was on the VW board when the scandal broke. That group includes Matthias Mueller, then head of the Porsche brand and now CEO of the VW Group; and Hans Dieter Poetsch, former VW chief financial officer.
The prosecutor’s office has declined to comment, except to tell Reuters that “the number of suspects is not cast in stone.”
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