Audi-Volkswagen pollution fraud scandal continues

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Audi big boss suspected in fraudulent software scandal

The fraudulent software scandal at Volkswagen now also concerns the top boss of subsidiary Audi. Rupert Stadler is suspected by the German Public Prosecution Service of fraud and deception in advertising.

Stadler’s house and the home of another member of the board of directors of Audi have been searched “to secure evidence”, reports the public prosecutor in Munich. The identity of the other boss has not been disclosed. The number of suspects has thus risen to twenty.

Under fire

Stadler has already been under attack since Audi in November 2015 admitted that Audi cars had fraudulent software as well. That confession came two months after the start of the scandal at Volkswagen. Stadler stayed on as the highest boss of Audi all that time. In April he became head of the sales department at parent company Volkswagen.

Audi is suspected as a company that since 2009 the brand has sold 210,000 diesel cars with fraudulent software in the USA and Europe. The software ensured that the cars went into a comparatively low pollution mode when they were tested according to the laws. In normal use on the road, the cars emitted much more than was promised on paper.