FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Audi’s (NSUG.DE) suspended Chief Executive Rupert Stadler has appealed to a court to be released from custody after spending the past month in jail, the Munich prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: Rupert Stadler, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, attends the “AI for Good” Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
Stadler was arrested in mid-June as part of a broader probe into emissions cheating at the premium brand, which is part of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) Group.
He is being held at a prison in the Bavarian city of Augsburg. A Munich court now needs to review his appeal.
Stadler initially cooperated with prosecutors but has now stopped giving statements, the prosecutor’s office said.
Munich prosecutors are probing Stadler and another member of Audi’s top management for suspected fraud and false advertising tied to illegal pollution levels in its cars and manipulated vehicle tests.
Audi named sales executive Abraham Schot as an interim replacement with immediate effect after Stadler was detained.
Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Douglas Busvine/Keith Weir