The Guardia di Finanza, the nucleus of the tax police, is carrying out a series of searches in the headquarters of the Volkswagen Group in Verona and of the Lamborghini in Bologna. The investigations were ordered by the Scaliger prosecutor who assumes the crime of fraud in commerce. There are already some names in the register of suspects and some of the top management figures would appear among them. The file on Volkswagen Italia also concerns Lamborghini as it is part of the German car manufacturer's group. The alleged crime would be that of fraud in commerce.
The group is in the turmoil after the scandal of the emissions rigged emerged from an investigation in California, in the United States. The case is linked in particular to diesel engines on which software was installed which indicated false data on emissions into the environment. According to the leaders of Volkswagen, the device that alters the data on emissions comes into operation automatically only in the United States and not in Europe.
From the day Pandora's box was discovered on this fraudulent practice, the shares of the Wolfsburg-based automotive giant collapsed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, going from 168 euros per share on 17 September to 107 euros today. In addition, the company has suffered a shake-up at the top with the resignation of managing director Winterkorn. Meanwhile, the shock at Volkswagen has caused a clear downsizing with the cut of one billion euros in investments per year. The cuts, apparently, will not affect Italy as confirms the CEO of Volkswagen Italy Massimo Nordio.
It should be remembered that the modified Volkswagen engines are the Ea 189, 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre Euro 5 approved and belonging to the various brands of the group. As many as 8 million cars with data-altering software have been sold in Europe, nearly 3 million of these in Germany alone.
Meanwhile, the German authorities are ordering the mandatory recall of all diesel cars equipped with software to manipulate emissions tests. This was announced by the Ministry of Transport.
UPDATE:
Massimo Nordio, general manager and managing director of Volkswagen group Italy, is among those under investigation by the Verona prosecutor's office with the hypothesis of a crime of fraud in commerce for the emissions scandal. This is what is learned from sources close to the investigation. In addition to him, other managers of the group in Italy who were in office in the period under consideration are also under investigation, during which the German company allegedly installed software on Euro5 diesel vehicles to circumvent environmental standards for the reduction of smog. The "dieselgate" emerged in the USA, where the tampered software would have been mounted on some cars of the German group from 2009 to 2015.
