First Dieselgate arrest on home soil.
According to German investigative media, Germany has arrested former Audi engine development boss Wolfgang Hatz to aid investigations into the Dieselgate scandal, which doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The news of Hatz’s arrest came from the Süddeutscher Zeitung newspaper, which works in conjunction with the government-backed Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk broadcasting divisions as part of a media group.
The news of the arrest broke on Thursday, following confirmation from the German public prosecuters’ office in Munich that stated it had arrested a Volkswagen executive following a large-scale search of various corporate and residential addresses by the German police. Hauling Hatz in is being considered as a ‘turning point’ of sorts for the Dieselgate investigation, given that Hatz enjoys a very close relationship with Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen’s CEO during the time the emissions-cheating software was first developed and rolled out.
*Wolfgang Hatz
It was during Hatz’ and Winterkorn’s time at Audi that the emissions-cheating software was developed and employed in the company’s engines. In 2007, when Winterkorn joined Volkswagen, Hatz followed suit, and acted as the engine boss for the larger Volkswagen Group up until 2011. For four years after that, Hatz took on a role as an R&D board member at Porsche.
While there have been Dieselgate arrests before, they have taken place abroad, making Hatz’ custody the very first to be executed in Germany. This may be the beginning of a new round of prosecution against the German conglomerate for Dieselgate, which has already seen the company pay out some $6-billion in compensation and commitment to efforts to reduce emissions in the US.
Stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you more updates as they come.
