AUTONEWS

Investigation on the "dieselgate" extended to Continental

The German public prosecutor's office has extended its investigation into the" dieselgate "to the automotive supplier Continental, whose offices have been searched as well as those of Volkswagen, the two groups announced on Wednesday(01/07).
Justice, which is interested in the role played by Continental in the supply of engine components, has requested a search in the offices of the supplier in Hanover, Regensburg, Wolfsburg, Gifhorn, Berlin, Frankfurt and Nuremberg, said a spokesperson for the Hanover Prosecutor's Office. Seventy-six police officers and four prosecutors were mobilized in the context of these searches.
"We are investigating employees of Continental on suspicion of encouraging fraud and providing false documents," attorney Oliver Eisenhauer told Reuters, adding that seven engineers and two project managers are among the suspects. Two executives and a compliance officer decided to cooperate in the investigation, he noted.
In a statement, Continental said that several of its offices had been searched and that the group was cooperating with the authorities, without further comment.
A spokesman for Volkswagen said that the automaker was cooperating in the investigation as a witness, the car group having reached an agreement in May with the Brunswick prosecutor's office.
The Hanoverian prosecutor's office said that the investigation into Continental was an extension of the previous investigations against Audi and VW.
Volkswagen acknowledged in September 2015 that it had used pollutant emission manipulation software from its diesel engines to distort tests in the United States.

by Jan Schwartz and Edward Taylor; French version Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot