The chief executive of Audi, the luxury automaker owned by Volkswagen, was arrested Monday on suspicion of fraud in relation to the German car maker’s emissions-cheating scandal.
Rupert Stadler, 55, was detained a week after his home was searched and German prosecutors said he was a focus of their probe into any manipulation of Audi emissions controls. Stadler is the first member of Volkswagen’s executive board to be arrested in connection with the diesel emissions investigation. In 2015, Volkswagen was discovered to have been using software during emissions testing to manipulate results.
Volkswagen said three years ago that as many as 11 million of its vehicles were equipped with software meant to deceive emissions tests, including at least 2 million Audis. The company has pleaded guilty to fraud in the U.S. and charged $25 billion in fines, penalties and restitution.
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