Following investigations earlier this week, German police have arrested Porsche’s powertrain development boss as part of ongoing investigations into Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal. According to Reuters, Joerg Kerner is being held on remand as he is seen as a potential flight risk after prosecutors searched 10 premises in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg as part of their inquiries into Porsche's involvement into the ongoing Volkswagen emissions scandal.
Kerner originally joined Audi from Robert Bosch in 2004. He’s the man responsible for building up Audi's engine and transmission electronics design and software development division, where it’s believed that the software that enabled VW to rig up to 11 million diesel engines to hide high emissions was first developed.Additionally, Kerner worked closely with VW Group's former top engineer Wolfgang Hatz, who was arrested lastyear,and was regarded as the confidant of former Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Mueller, who was also previously Porsche’s CEO. The latest arrest has resulted from information given to prosecutors by former Audi manager Giovanni Pamio.
The engine developer has been a steady source of information and has testified against colleagues as a key prosecution witness. For its part, Porsche is denying the allegations with Porsche CEO Oliver Blume vowing to do what it can to clear up the matter. Earlier this year, prosecutors widened an investigation of Audi, which was responsible for developing the illicit software used on 3.0-liter V6 diesel engines that was equipped in roughly 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche models.
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