Former Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess denied responsibility for the diesel affair in the billion-dollar investor process. “I had the impression that the issue was being dealt with solidly,” said Diess as a witness on Tuesday before the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig.
In the months before the scandal broke in September 2015, the people involved around the then boss Martin Winterkorn appeared to be very competent. Even a few days before it became known, Diess said in the first two hours of his interrogation that it was still a technology issue for him, but not an impending scandal. As he remembers, Winterkorn was clear in his instructions at the time. “No further action was necessary from me,” said Diess. “I was sure it was in good hands.”
The manipulations were discovered in September 2015. In the proceedings under the Capital Investor Model Procedure Act (KapMug), investors are fighting for damages. They suffered billions of euros in share price losses. According to Diess, the former CEOs Matthias Müller (February 7) and Martin Winterkorn are also on the witness list.