Audi CEO Rupert Stadler arrested in diesel emissions probe
German prosecutors last week widened their emissions cheating probe into Volkswagen’s luxury brand Audi to include Rupert Stadler among the suspects accused of fraud and false advertising
Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler has been arrested in connection with parent company Volkswagen’s so-called dieselgate emissions cheating scandal, German prosecutors said on Monday.
The dramatic development comes a week after Munich prosecutors raided Stadler’s home after charging him with fraud and the falsification of documents that allowed diesel vehicles equipped with cheating software to be sold to European customers.
Prosecutors said the arrest was justified because of the “risk of concealment of evidence”.
Audi confirmed the arrest, declining to give further details.
“For Mr Stadler, the presumption of innocence continues to apply,” a spokesman said in a statement.
Stadler’s arrest is the most high-profile yet in the dieselgate incident, which started when the Volkswagen group admitted in 2015 to equipping some 11 million engines worldwide with “defeat devices” designed to dupe pollution tests.