The exhaust gas scandal at Volkswagen flies up in September 2015, and the scandal now appears to be spreading. In the morning, the police searched various Continental locations. But the auto parts supplier denies having delivered manipulated software.
The public prosecutor and police have searched various locations at the automotive supplier Continental. This is in connection with investigations into the shutdown systems used by Volkswagen in the exhaust gas cleaning of a diesel engine, the car supplier in Hanover announced and thus confirmed a report by the "Wirtschaftswoche".
According to Conti, the investigators came to Hanover, Frankfurt and Regensburg, among others. The company emphasized that it was working "in full with the authorities". Continental did not comment on the state of the proceedings. However, the Dax group confirmed its position from previous tests: "We have not supplied any of our customers with software for the purpose of manipulating emissions test values." Rather, the "emission limit values applicable in the respective period could have been basically adhered to".
Suspected aid and false certification
The "Wirtschaftswoche" reported that the suspicion of fraud and indirect false certification was suspected between 2006 and 2015. Former and active Continental employees, including seven engineers and two project managers from the old Siemens VDO, which Continental acquired in 2007 and which now belongs to Continental Automotive GmbH, are affected by the investigation.
At that time, according to the magazine Volkswagen employees, the later Continental employees were commissioned to develop an injection system for the 1.6-liter EA EA99 engine from VW. This included the software for the engine control. "At the request of Volkswagen, this software is said to have included functions for driving curve detection," said a spokesman for the prosecutor at the "Wirtschaftswoche". There is suspicion that the software was a prohibited shutdown device.
The exhaust gas affair at Volkswagen was exposed in September 2015. From 2009 to 2015, the car manufacturer had installed manipulated exhaust gas cleaning systems in a good three million diesel vehicles in the USA, which in test operation showed significantly lower nitrogen oxide emissions than were actually generated on the road. The question later arose as to whether suppliers might also have been privy to the intent to deceive. You deny this.
Investigation against managing director
In January, the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi was also suspected of cheating diesel buyers with illegal shutdown devices. During a raid in four federal states, investigators searched the business premises of the German Mitsubishi subsidiary, a subsidiary and two large suppliers. Continental employees were listed as witnesses in the process.
According to "Wirtschaftswoche", it is also being investigated against the two current managing directors of Continental Automotive GmbH and a compliance officer. They are suspected of negligent violation of the duty to supervise. According to the public prosecutor's office, this is being investigated for a violation of the Administrative Offenses Act.
According to the report, the investigation is based on files from the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. In the course of an investigation into the VW diesel scandal, the agency also collected information about possible aid from Continental employees and sent the documents to the Hanover public prosecutor's office.
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