Dieselgate: Former And Current VW Chairmen Under Investigation

Former VW Group chairman Martin Winterkorn and current chairman Matthias Müller, who was the former boss of Porsche, have been accused of covering up the VW emissions scandal for more than a decade by US attorneys. New York Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman said the company had a "culture of deeply-rooted corporate arrogance, combined with a conscious disregard for the rule of law".

It is stated by the suit that Müller was aware of the cheat devices that were installed on VW diesel cars. After the investigation, it was found that approximately 11 million VW Group cars worldwide were involved in this scandal. The new investigation claims that the introduction of this kind of software in the cars involves a list of directors in several divisions and also senior levels in the company.

In New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland, the law also stated that VW's engineering department was involved in deleted incriminating data for August 2015. It also claims that a senior lawyer working for the VW Group told the engineers to destroy all evidence just before a month the diesel scandal took place. It stated “At least eight employees — all in engineering departments involved in the creation of the defeat devices got the unmistakable message: they promptly deleted or removed incriminating data about the devices from the company’s records”.

It is said that these cheat devices were made by some engineers that worked for the car giant. A statement issued earlier this year read: “No serious breaches of duty on the part of any serving or former members of the board of management have been established”. Winterkorn, after stepping down from the chairman's post for this scandal, is again under investigation by German prosecutors for market manipulation.

In response to the latest allegations, a VW statement read: "It is regrettable that some states have decided to sue for environmental claims now, notwithstanding their prior support of this ongoing federal-state collaborative process.” VW last month made a settlement with federal regulators, several states, and owners of the affected vehicle for a total amount of $15.3 bn, or over Rs 1,00,000 crore.