Public Prosecutor's Office With New Investigations At VW

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

The Braunschweig public prosecutor will soon be investigating again in Wolfsburg. After the manipulation of diesel engines, it is now a matter of incorrect information on CO2 emissions.

The Braunschweig public prosecutor's office is also taking the souped-up information on CO2 emissions from VW vehicles as an opportunity for new investigations. A preliminary check for possible criminal offenses is underway in the authority, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office for the German Press Agency on Thursday in Braunschweig. Initially, both fraud and unfair competition are conceivable offenses.

VW boss calls for unsparing clarification

After the irregularities became known, VW boss Matthias Müller saw a "relentless and complete investigation" as without alternative. Around 800,000 vehicles are affected by the new scandal. In addition to the investigations by the public prosecutor's office, the customs responsible for vehicle tax could also take action and demand additional tax payments through the false CO2 information. VW has put the financial damage at around two billion euros.

“The only thing that counts for us is the truth. That is the prerequisite for the fundamental reorientation that Volkswagen needs, continued Müller.

VW threatens criminal law expansion

VW had admitted on Tuesday that “the CO2 certification of some vehicle models was too low, and therefore fuel consumption too low”. How, when and with whom the false information came about is still unclear.

With the preliminary examination, the VW Group is also threatened with criminal law expansion of the exhaust gas scandal, in which the public prosecutor is already investigating the software manipulation of diesel vehicles. If the information becomes more concrete, it can be assumed that the two topics - software manipulation and CO2 certification - will continue in separate processes, said the spokesman for the authorities.

In the so-called preliminary examination it is clarified how concretely an initial suspicion could be substantiated. If this is answered in the affirmative, an investigation usually follows, in which the public prosecutor's office then seeks what is incriminating and exonerating. House searches can be carried out - as already happened in the software manipulation procedure. (AG / dpa)