German state prosecutors on Tuesday conducted renewed raids on the headquarters of carmaker Audi and a manufacturing plant in the widening diesel emissions scandal relating to software designed to cheat exhaust testing.
In the train of investigations in the U.S., where the scandal first broke over the parent Volkswagen Group in September 2015, investigators were now looking into six-cylinder diesel engines, prosecutors in the Bavarian capital of Munich said.
Fourteen people are under investigation, including current and former members of the up market carmaker’s executive board.
German media had earlier reported the raids at the headquarters in Ingolstadt in Bavaria and at the plant in Neckarsulm in the neighbouring state of Baden-Wuerttemberg
Prosecutors alleged that Audi sold at least 210,000 diesel-engine cars fitted with cheat software in the U.S. and Europe from 2009 onwards and had been investigating allegations of fraud and illegal product promotion for the past year.
On Tuesday morning, 18 prosecutors accompanied by officials from the state criminal investigation departments, searched the two premises, as well as a private home in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Thus, far the only person charged is the former head of Audi engine development and member of the Porsche executive.
The man, who is not being named in the media under German law, has been held in custody since his arrest in September.
His appeal against detention is currently before the Munich state court.
Another senior employee at Audi’s Neckarsulm plant was released in November after several months in detention. (dpa/NAN)