Volkswagen fat cats knew about pollution scandal

Cartoon about Volkswagen, founded during Hitler's Third Reich

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

‘Current Volkswagen bosses knew for longer about fraudulent software‘

Today, 15:44

The current chairman of the supervisory board and the board chairman of Volkswagen knew already about the corporation’s fraudulent software ten days before the company admitted it. This writes the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Former CEO Martin Winterkorn explained to the Volkswagen bigwigs on September 8 last year that the company had admitted to have committed fraud to US authorities. The former financial director Hans Dieter Pötsch and CEO of Porsche Mathias Müller were according to the newspaper present at that meeting.

On 18 September, the scandal became public. Within a week Winterkorn stepped down as chairman, Müller succeeded him. Pötsch has become chairman of the supervisory board.

Criticism

Pötsch received much criticism from shareholders and analysts because he is said to not have properly informed the financial markets about the fraud. After the abuses became known the company decreased billions in value.

On Wednesday Volkswagen admitted that Winterkorn has already been warned in May 2014 on possible problems with the emissions of the cars. He received a memo about problems with emissions tests in the United States, but that “did not immediately become a management issue,” says the group.

Against the company there are multiple lawsuits because it is said to have been too slow to inform shareholders about the problems.