VW’s Diesel-Cheat Profits Risk Seizure Under German Probe
- Braunschweig prosecutors open probe allowing company sanctions
- Procedure was used in 600 million-euro Siemens settlement
This article is for subscribers only.
German prosecutors widened a probe of Volkswagen AG’s emissions cheating, potentially paving the way for hundreds of millions of euros in penalties on top of the $15.3 billion U.S. settlement.
Prosecutors invoked a procedure as part of their criminal probe of employees that allows them to ask courts to fine the company as well, Klaus Ziehe, a spokesman for the investigators in Braunschweig, said by phone. Fines can only be levied if the probe finds a top manager or board member guilty of wrongdoing linked to the scandal.