Early this morning, German authorities arrested Audi CEO Rupert Stadler at his home in Ingolstadt. Prosecutors said in a statement that Stadler's arrest is due to concerns about evidence tampering.
“There were clear signs that there was to be an effort to influence people and other suspects. Therefore we issued an immediate arrest warrant,” Stephan Necknig, a spokesman for the Munich prosecutor’s office to German Tabloid Bild.
The arrest of Stadler comes a week after prosecutors accused him of fraud and false advertising. Stadler and Audi's head of procurement, Bernd Martens had their homes raided by prosecutors this past week as well. According to Bloomberg, Stadler is willing to be questioned later this week and his lawyers aren't challenging the arrest at the moment.
The New York Times reports that Volkswagen's supervisory board has been holding meetings today to decide on an interim replacement for Stadler. In a statement, Audi said "For Mr. Stadler, the presumption of innocence continues to apply."
Stadler becomes the highest-profile employee at the Volkswagen group to be arrested in connection to the diesel emission scandal.
Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required), New York Times, Reuters
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