MUNICH--German prosecutors said on Wednesday they had filed charges against former Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler, who is being investigated over his role in Volkswagen's emissions test cheating scandal.
Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 to having used illegal engine control software to cheat pollution tests, triggering a global backlash against diesel. The affair has so far cost the German carmaker 30 billion euros ($33.5 billion).
The public prosecutor's office in Munich said Stadler and three other defendants are being charged with fraud, false certification and criminal advertising practices. Stadler has denied any wrongdoing, his lawyer said. Premium brand Audi only admitted in November 2015 that its 3.0 litre V6 diesel engines were fitted with an auxiliary control device which was deemed illegal in the United States.
Volkswagen and its former managers have faced numerous law suits, and in April prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig charged former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn with fraud over his role.
The Munich prosecutor said that three of the defendants are accused of having developed engines for Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche cars that used emissions cheat devices. "Defendant Stadler is accused of having been aware of the manipulations since the end of September 2015 at the latest, but he did not prevent the sale of affected Audi and VW vehicles thereafter," the prosecutor said in a statement.
Stadler was arrested in June 2018 as part of a broader probe into emissions cheating at Audi, which is part of Volkswagen Group, and spent several months in prison. Volkswagen later terminated Stadler's contract against the backdrop of a criminal investigation into whether he was involved in emissions tests cheating. The prosecutors said that his indictment relates to roughly 250,000 Audi branded cars, 112,000 Porsches and 72,000 Volkswagen cars that were sold in the U.S. and Europe.
