German police have raided offices of automotive parts supplier Continental and automotive maker Volkswagen, in relation to the 2015 diesel emissions-cheating scandal. Continental was raided for its role in supplying diesel engine devices used to bypass emissions tests.
Prosecutors in Hanover, Germany, conducted the searches as part of an investigation into how a 1.6 l diesel engine came to violate emissions rules by masking excessive pollution levels.
Premises in Hanover, Regensburg, Wolfsburg, Gifhorn, Berlin, Frankfurt und Nuernberg were searched.
“We are investigating employees of Continental for abetting fraud and for providing false documentation,” Prosecutor Oliver Eisenhauer told Reuters, adding that seven engineers and two project leaders were among the accused. Two business heads and a compliance officer were also cooperating with the probe, he added.
Continental said in a statement that several of its offices had been searched, adding it was cooperating with the authorities, but declined to comment on the investigation.
The raids come nearly five years after the start of the diesel scandal that enveloped Volkswagen and much of the German automotive industry. Continental said in 2015 it had never delivered software to clients intended for cheating
A Volkswagen spokesman said the carmaker was cooperating with the probe in the capacity as a witness, given that the firm has already settled with prosecutors in Braunschweig. The scandal has cost the world’s biggest carmaker more than EUR30 billion.
While Volkswagen has been the focus for most of the investigation, suppliers have also been affected. Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s largest car-parts maker, had in May agreed to pay EUR90 million to end a probe into its activities supplying control devices for rigged diesel engines. The company has faced similar claims related to software supplied to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.
Bosch supplied the engine-control device for the 2 l diesel motor at the heart of Volkswagen’s diesel scandal. Continental delivered components for a smaller version of that engine, which was sold in Europe.