Dieselgate: Former VW CEO charged with false testimony

Berlin, June 9

Prosecutors have charged former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn with giving false testimony to the German parliament when he said he was unaware of the carmaker’s diesel emissions cheating before it became public.

Volkswagen had admitted using illegal software to rig US diesel engine tests. The ‘dieselgate’ scandal has cost the German carmaker more than 32 billion euros ($39 billion) in fines, refits and legal costs.

“In his testimony, the accused falsely claimed to have been informed of the defeat devices only in September 2015,” Berlin prosecutors said on Wednesday. — Reuters