		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>German prosecutors have expanded their probe into Volkswagen&#8217;s diesel car emissions scandal, claiming they have evidence former CEO Martin Winterkorn may have known of the cheating earlier than he claimed.</p>
<p>The 69-year-old stepped down in September 2015, days after news emerged in the US of Volkswagen&#8217;s use of software which turned off emissions controls.</p>
<p>He said at the time that he was not aware of any wrongdoing on his part.</p>
<p>Winterkorn said before a parliamentary committee last week that he first heard the term &#8220;defeat device&#8221;, the technical name for the illegal software, in September 2015 &#8211; even though US authorities had been pressing Volkswagen for months over emissions test discrepancies and the cheating had been going on for several years.</p>
<p>Prosecutors in Braunschweig said that based on investigations, Winterkorn &#8220;could have known of the manipulative software earlier than publicly asserted by him&#8221;.</p>
<p>They have increased the number of suspects in their investigation from 21 to 37 people, with 28 locations including offices and private homes searched in Germany this week.</p>
<p>Winterkorn and others are now being investigated on allegations they committed fraud.</p>
<p>In a June statement, prosecutors said Winterkorn was being investigated only over market manipulation for not making a timely disclosure of the possible financial consequences of the problem.</p>
<p>US prosecutors have separately charged seven former Volkswagen employees.</p>
<p>The company has agreed to pay €4bn in fines to settle criminal charges and reached a US$15bn (€14bn) civil settlement in the US with environmental authorities and car owners.</p>
<p>The software enabled the car to detect when it was on the test stand and turn on emission controls, and then to turn them off during normal driving.</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed5e3d97e76">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed5e3d97e76',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
