The investigation is looking into suspected tax evasion that could amount to millions of euros, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and German broadcasters Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk said in a joint report, via Reuters.
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German prosecutors have widened their investigation of Volkswagen to include suspicions of tax evasion linked to the emissions cheating scandal.
Volkswagen admitted in September that it installed software in up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide that vastly understated their actual emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides, causing the biggest business scandal in Volkswagen’s 78-year history. It was revealed that the focus of the investigation was on tax breaks Volkswagen received for producing low polluting cars that the company might not have qualified for if the emissions were correctly reported. Because taxes in Germany are tied to rated carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions levels, authorities believe VW’s underreporting could have prevented the government from receiving its proper share.
The tax probe is centered around five Volkswagen employees.
Under the law in Germany, companies could not be held accountable for criminal acts.
A spokesman at the prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig, near VW’s Wolfsburg HQ, said it could also involve fraud. The EPA had alleged that Volkswagen cheated on tests on other six cylinder vehicles and said that it would be carrying out further investigations on cars in the near term.
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Since Volkswagen scandals are an increasingly common occurrence, we’ll remind you the company found “irregularities” with their Carbon dioxide emissions data earlier this month as part of their internal investigation into the Dieselgate debacle.
