Ever since Volkswagen's emissions-cheating scandal came out, the automaker claimed that a group of rogue engineers were the cause of the defeat devices. While it was rumored that former CEO Martin Winterkorn, who resigned shortly after the news went public, knew about the devices, there's been no evidence out in the public to back the claim up. A recent lawsuit filed by New York and Massachusetts attorneys general accuse Winterkorn and current VW CEO Matthias Müller of being aware about the devices.
According to a report by The New York Times, the suit draws on internal documents that claim Müller knew about the decision to not equip Audi vehicles with the proper equipment needed to meet US standards in 2006. The suit claims that the automaker, with Müller's go ahead, knowingly chose to install the devices onto its vehicles and is the first document that connects the executive to the ongoing scandal.
The suit also claims that more than 24 engineers and managers, including former head of engine and transmission development at VW and Audi Wolfgang Hatz, former head of development for VW Heinz-Jakob Neusser, and former head of development for Audi Ulrich Hackenberg, were involved in the scandal. Due to Germany's privacy laws, the country's prosecutors have only named Winterkorn as a suspect. . . .