BERLIN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- German investigators have forwarded files containing the detailed criminal charges against Volkswagen Group executives in the diesel emissions scandal to the attorneys of the suspects on Tuesday.
Klaus Ziehe, the head of the Brunswick State Prosecution Office, told the German press agency (dpa) that the information compiled had been "sent by mail today".
Several prominent suspects, including ex-Volkswagen chief executive officer (CEO) Martin Winterkorn, announced earlier that they would only comment publicly on accusations of being involved in diesel emissions-cheating practices when the ongoing investigation reached this critical stage.
Under German law, suspects have the right to assess and reply to concrete criminal charges in a given case before state prosecutors decide whether or not to place defendants on trial.
Winterkorn stepped down from his position at the helm of the Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen Group shortly after the first reports about the diesel emissions scandal were published in September 2015. He has repeatedly stated that he had no prior knowledge of emissions cheating practices affecting 11 million vehicles at his company.
The Brunswick State Prosecution Office currently lists 49 suspects in the German "dieselgate" investigation. A small number of senior Volkswagen executives, including Winterkorn, the new CEO Herbert Diess and board chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch are hereby believed to have potentially committed "market manipulation" offenses under German laws governing the conduct of publicly-listed companies.
Furthermore, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler became the first Volkswagen Group manager to be taken into police custody in Germany in relation to the diesel emissions scandal in June.
German authorities have so far ordered the subsidiaries of the automotive corporation to recall a total of 2.4 million vehicles which had been fitted with illegal defeat devices to understate their nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in regular traffic conditions.
According to Vera Jourova, the European Union (EU) commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Volkswagen has completed 80 percent of diesel software updates which it agreed to in the wake of the scandal. While praising progress achieved since the announcement of the measures, Jourova criticized that the company was unwilling to cover the full cost of necessary repairs.
Aside from Volkswagen's legal woes in its European home market, ex-CEO Winterkorn has also been charged with criminal fraud, as well as conspiracy to breach environmental regulations and deceive regulatory authorities by a U.S. court in Detroit. A U.S. arrest warrant had been issued against the German national earlier.
In total, Volkswagen has set aside over 25 billion euros (29.3 billion U.S. dollars) since 2015 to cover costs for dieselgate-related fines and compensation payments in the United States.
