Prosecutors Probe Bonuses Paid to Suspended VW Exec

Prosecutors may level breach of fiduciary duty charges against Volkswagen AG for paying bonuses to an executive suspended during VW’s diesel emission cheating scandal, Reuters reports.

VW suspended several executives when the cheating was revealed in 2015. Germany prosecutors want to determine why one of those managers received bonuses that Bild am Sonntag says totaled €866,000 ($971,000) between 2016 and 2018.

Prosecutors declined to identify their suspect. But Reuters says he is one of five former executives that face charges of covering up the cheating. Those managers and their former titles at VW are:

• Jens Hadler (head of powertrain development)
• Hanno Helden (engine electronics chief)
• Hans-Jacob Neusser (head of engine development)
• Thorsten Neussers (department head)
• Martin Winterkorn (CEO)

The company has claimed it didn’t report the cheating earlier because it didn’t realize the engine control software involved was illegal. VW also has said it didn’t inform shareholders about the issue because it didn’t think fines in the U.S. would exceed €150 million ($168 million).

VW so far has paid out some €29 billion for regulatory and legal fines, customer remuneration, repairs, vehicle buybacks and environmental restitution.