[Anchor Lead]
South Korean prosecutors investigating Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal have summoned and questioned an executive of the carmaker's headquarters in Germany. Here’s more.
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Detlef Stendel, an executive in charge of emission certifications at Volkswagen's headquarters in Germany, appeared at the South Korean prosecutors' office. This marks the first time an executive from the carmaker's headquarters has been questioned by an investigative agency abroad, not in Germany, over the emission cheating scam.
[Soundbite] Detlef Stendel(VW Germany Executive in Charge of Emission Certification) : "As a witness and a Volkswagen employee, I have come to cooperate with Korean investigators and help them find the truth. This is very important for me."
Stendel has been in charge of emission certifications at the Volkswagen headquarters since 2004. He had previously visited South Korea in 2011 for questioning by the Environment Ministry. Prosecutors grilled the Volkswagen executive about whether the German headquarters was involved in the fabrication of emission gas levels for cars exported to South Korea. They believe that Volkswagen cars' nitrogenous compound emissions exceed the standard level during actual driving. But the emission results were fabricated to a lower level during certification tests. Prosecutors also questioned Stendel about why the German carmaker had refused to present related documents demanded by the Environment Ministry in 2011 over Volkswagen cars' excessive emissions of harmful substances. Prosecutors will decide on the level of punishment for Johannes Thammer, managing director of Volkswagen Korea and former President Park Dong-hun, as soon as they complete the investigation on the German headquarters.
