Audi headquarters in Ingolstadt
Prosecutors search the headquarters of the VW premium subsidiary.
(Photo: AFP)
New day, new raid: For the third time, the public prosecutor Munich II in the environment of Audi Business and private rooms searched. The action on Tuesday morning had it all. With a squad of 18 prosecutors alone, the investigators were on, were also officials of the state departments of criminal Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Both the headquarters in Ingolstadt and the location in Neckarsulm were felted. Previously, the research network of “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, North German Broadcasting (NDR) and West German Broadcasting (WDR) had reported on the raid,
The search marks a new climax of the emissions scandal in the VolkswagenCorporation. In September 2015, the carmaker had to admit to have manipulated the emissions of diesel vehicles by means of a software that could distinguish between test and real operation of the vehicles. The principle: On the test bench, the cars drove as clean as prescribed, on the road, however, they emitted far more toxic nitric oxide than allowed.
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The scandal quickly caught on VW-Daughter Audi which was responsible for the development and construction of the three-liter diesel engines in the Group. While at VW, the prosecutor determined Braunschweig, the prosecutor Munich II cares about Audi.
Already in March 2017 there had been a first raid in Ingolstadt and elsewhere. Initially, the suspicion related to the fraud and punishable advertising with Audi vehicles that were sold on the US market. There VW has admitted the fraud itself.
VW made no secret that Audi was also involved in the transgressions. Affected at that time were 80,000 vehicles. The prosecutors originally had four Audi employees on the accused list. Two of them were taken into custody, one of them is currently still sitting in the prison Stadelheim.
With the recent search, the prosecutor’s office has significantly expanded the original investigation. Meanwhile, 14 Audi technicians are considered suspicious. According Handelsblatt information are employees who were mainly responsible for the approval of diesel vehicles and possibly knew of the manipulation. Audi board members are not yet on the list of defendants.
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In terms of content, the investigations have meanwhile taken on a new dimension. It is now also about Audi diesel engines that were sold on the European market. “Our focus is now also on the use of technical devices for the manipulation of emissions in V6-3-liter diesel engines, which were intended for the European market,” said a spokeswoman for the prosecutor. The suspicion currently relates to the diesel engines in at least 210,000 vehicles that have been delivered since 2009 in the European and US markets.
In addition to the preliminary investigation against the Audi technicians, the prosecutor’s office also brings a fine proceedings against unknown board members and against Audi itself. Audi explained on demand only to fully cooperate with the prosecutor.