Prosecutors in Germany said Friday they are expanding their probe into Volkswagen's scandal over diesel cars that cheated on emissions tests. As well as increasing the number of suspects, prosecutors said they have evidence former CEO Martin Winterkorn may have known of the cheating earlier than he has claimed. The prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, near Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters, also said Winterkorn was now being investigated on suspicion of fraud, beyond an earlier focus on a possible securities-market violation. The 69-year-old stepped down in September 2015, days after news emerged in the U.S. of Volkswagen's use of software that turned off emissions controls. In a June statement, prosecutors said Winterkorn was being investigated only for market manipulation for not making a timely disclosure of the possible financial consequences of the problem.

Source: ABC News January 27, 2017 11:40 UTC