Audi boss Rupert Stadler arrested over emissions test scandal

First major arrest to be made over cheating which emerged in 2015

The Audi boss was taken into custody in Germany on Monday (Reuters)

Audi boss Rupert Stadler has been arrested over his part in Volkswagen’s diesel emissions test cheating scandal.

The brand’s CEO was taken into custody in Germany on Monday, with Munich prosecutors stating the arrest had been made due to fears Mr Stadler might hinder an ongoing investigation into the scandal.

“As part of an investigation into diesel affairs and Audi engines, the Munich prosecutor’s office executed an arrest warrant against Mr Professor Rupert Stadler on June 18, 2018,” the Munich prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that VW’s supervisory board had nominated Bram Schot to be interim chief executive at Audi.

The car maker was rocked by the revelation that it had cheated tests on diesel vehicles in the US and Europe, which first came to light in 2015.

The arrest of the Audi CEO marks the most senior official to face criminal charges over the scandal so far.

The US filed charges against former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn in May, but he is unlikely to face the authorities there because Germany does not extradite its nationals to countries outside the EU.

One of the motor group’s senior managers in the US was sentenced to seven years in prison last year over his part in the test cheating.

Oliver Schmidt, a German national who had worked for VW in the US since 2015, failed to disclose the existence of the software that allowed vehicles to cheat emissions tests, and also misled investigators and destroyed documents.

Last week, VW agreed to pay a €1bn (£881m) fine over the scandal. The Braunschweig (also known as Brunswick) public prosecutor issued an administrative order against Volkswagen last Wednesday, imposing the maximum penalty of €5m, and then €995m for the “disgorgement of economic benefits”. This refers to repayment of profits accrued through illegal or unethical means.

Additional reporting by agencies