Winterkorn Targeted in German Probe of VW Diesel Disclosure
- Probe looks at whether VW should have disclosed costs sooner
- Volkswagen sticks to recommendation to ratify board actions
VW Probes Continue as it Gears for First Post-Crisis AGM
German prosecutors are looking at whether former Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn was too slow to tell investors about the potential cost of the diesel-emissions scandal, which wiped about 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion) off the carmaker’s market value in the week after it admitted to cheating.
The probe is reviewing whether Volkswagen should have disclosed the risks to investors sooner, prosecutors in Braunschweig said in an e-mailed statement Monday. On Sept. 22, four days after the cheating became public, Volkswagen set aside 6.5 billion euros to cover the cost of fixing rigged engines in as many as 11 million diesel cars worldwide. The figure later grew to 16.2 billion euros for legal and other costs.