Porsche’s head of powertrain development reportedly arrested

German police arrested the head of powertrain development, Joerg Kerner, at Volkswagen’s Porsche business and are holding him on remand as he is considered a flight risk, a person knowledgeable about the matter stated on Friday.

The arrest of Kerner was associated with ongoing inquiries into emissions manipulation at Volkswagen, over two years after the automaker admitted the scandal, the person stated.

A spokesman for Porsche refused to discuss the matter.

Kerner was one of three present or former workers of Porsche that prosecutors were aiming when they investigated offices at Porsche and its sister brand Audi previously this week, a representative for the Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office stated.

Those three, as well as Porsche itself, were thought of having known that engines developed by Audi had been manipulated, Porsche Chief Executive Oliver Blume informed staff in a memo, excerpts of which were observed by Reuters on Friday.

“We reject these allegations and will do our utmost to clear up the matter,” Blume stated in the memo, which was first reported by the newspaper Bild am Sonntag previously on Friday.

The arrest took place on Thursday, the person informed.

Previously this year, prosecutors extended an investigation of Audi, which developed a 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine which was utilized in about 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche models discovered to have been geared up with illicit software.