VW diesel emissions scandal: bosses probed

STUTTGART prosecutors said they were probing Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller, chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch and former chief executive Martin Winterkorn on allegations that they “deliberately” delayed informing Porsche SE investors about the diesel scandal.

The market-manipulation investigation was prompted by a complaint filed by German financial regulator Bafin, prosecutors’ spokesperson Jan Holzner said in the statement, confirming a probe that a person familiar with the matter disclosed last week.

While the Bafin complaint dates from mid-2016, the investigation was opened in February, he said.

The men are under investigation because they served on Porsche SE’s management board before Volkswagen’s scandal became public. Porsche owns the majority of VW’s voting shares, and the holding accounts for almost all its assets.

There is initial evidence suggesting the three suspects may have intentionally held off on letting investors know about the consequences the diesel-emissions scandal at VW may have for Porsche, prosecutors said. Poetsch is Porsche’s chief executive and Mueller is a management-board member.

Porsche views the allegations as unfounded as it complied with disclosure rules, the Stuttgart-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

A spokesperson for VW declined to comment beyond referring to the Porsche statement, while lawyers for Poetsch and Winterkorn did not reply to e-mails seeking comment.

VW is facing a barrage of investigations, lawsuits and customer complaints around the world after admitting in September 2015 that it rigged 11 million diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests.

The scandal has cost the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company, €22.6 billion (R327.2bn) in fines and other expenses so far.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany, are also looking at similar allegations regarding the stock of VW. That probe is targeting Poetsch, Winterkorn and VW board member Herbert Dies.

All three men and VW have denied any wrongdoing. German prosecutors as a rule only confirm probes once the targeted people have been informed about it. – Bloomberg