Photo: DPAGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday denied having any prior knowledge that auto giant Volkswagen was running an emissions cheating scam, saying she first learnt of the scandal through the media. Merkel told investigating lawmakers that she found out "from the media on September 19, 2015" about charges laid by Washington over the cheating against Europe's biggest carmaker the previous day. The VW scandal has therefore raised questions on whether such feather bedding extended to turning a blind eye to much higher emissions of harmful nitrogen oxides than allowed. California's powerful Air Resources Board (CARB) was one of the first regulators to bring the VW scandal to light, along with the US Environmental Protection Agency. Former VW CEO Winterkorn told the inquiry he spoke of 'dieselgate' with Merkel in a phone call on September 22, 2015 - just after Winterkorn himself claims to have found out.

Source: The Local March 09, 2017 08:00 UTC