VW ex-CEO sticks to denial of early knowledge of scandal

BERLIN (Reuters) – Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn maintains that he did not learn of the carmaker’s manipulations of emissions tests earlier than VW has officially admitted, his lawyer said in a statement.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig earlier on Friday said they are investigating the former Volkswagen CEO over suspicions of fraud, citing indications that Winterkorn may have known about the cheat software sooner than he has said publicly.

“For now, Winterkorn is sticking with the statement he made before a German parliamentary committee of inquiry (into the scandal) on Jan. 19,” a Frankfurt-based lawyer for Winterkorn said in an emailed statement.

In that hearing, Winterkorn refused to say when he first learned about systematic exhaust emissions cheating but said it was no earlier than VW has officially admitted.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Christoph Steitz)