Former Volkswagen CEO sticks to denial of early knowledge of dieselgate scandal

Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn maintains that he did not discover about automaker’s manipulations of emissions tests earlier than the company had officially admitted, his legal representative stated.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig earlier on Friday stated they are examining the ex Volkswagen CEO over suspicions of fraud, pointing out signs that Winterkorn might have understood about the cheat software earlier than he has said publicly.

“For now, Winterkorn is sticking with the statement he made before a German parliamentary committee of inquiry (into the scandal) on January 19,” a Frankfurt-based lawyer for Winterkorn wrote in an emailed statement.

During that hearing, Winterkorn chose not to say when he first discovered about systematic exhaust emissions cheating however stated it was no earlier than Volkswagen has officially confessed.