No admissions on emissions former VW boss claims ignorance over fraud

The former chief executive of Volkswagen, Martin Winterkorn, has said he was unaware of the companies emissions fraud before it was made public.

(Detroit News) Ex-VW #CEO #Winterkorn denies wrongdoing on emissions : Winterkorn denied.. https://t.co/obAyJmNtiB pic.twitter.com/fJrVJQVZHj— InUSANews.com (@inusanewscom) January 19, 2017

Winterkorn was appearing before the German parliamentary committee investigating the issue.

BILD: VW-interne Dokumente belasten Winterkorn https://t.co/xcHvIPNw6Y pic.twitter.com/qlxBRpX6SP— autonews.ch (@autonews_ch) January 17, 2017

News of the scandal broke in September 2015 when US authorities said the carmaker had installed software to mask emission tests on diesel cars.

The software was fitted to 11 million vehicles and has shredded the company’s reputation and its coffers.

VW has been fined $4.3bn by US authorities and agreed to a $15bn civil settlement with environmental authorities and car owners in the US.

The carmaker will also plead guilty to criminal charges.

Mr Winterkorn claims he was kept in the dark and told the parliamentarians he too was “looking for satisfactory answers.”