The Berlin public prosecutor's office has brought charges of undecided false testimony against the former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn, who fell over the diesel scandal.

The manager should be brought to trial because of his testimony before the Bundestag investigative committee in January 2017, which investigated VW's exhaust gas fraud.

Carsten Germis

Business correspondent in Hamburg.

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    The public prosecutor accuses Winterkorn, according to a statement on Wednesday, which informs about the indictment before the Berlin regional court, of having "deliberately made false statements" on the question of when he used the software function to check the exhaust gas values ​​of diesel vehicles manipulated, had information.

    Winterkorn had said to the committee at the time that he had only been informed about the defeat devices in September.

    The Berlin prosecutors speak of evidence that he was already aware of these manipulations in May 2015.

    It is also said to have been a topic at the so-called "damage table" in July 2015, when the topic was reported.

    "That's not the case"

    How far Winterkorn knew about the fraud has preoccupied the courts for a long time.

    A note in his “weekend suitcase” in May 2014 plays a role here, which raises the question of whether he knew about the fraud at the latest afterwards, or whether he negligently overlooked information.

    This is also the subject of the criminal proceedings before the regional court in Braunschweig against Winterkorn and other former Volkswagen managers, which are due to begin in September.

    The so-called damage table from July 2015 also repeatedly played a role in clearing up the fraud.

    The Berlin public prosecutor's office now expressly speaks in its press release of evidence from May 2015, which showed that Winterkorn already knew about the manipulations at that time.

    When asked by the Bundestag committee of inquiry whether he knew of the manipulation before the exhaust gas scandal was discovered by the American environmental agency in autumn 2015, the former VW boss said: “That is not the case.” However, he admitted that he may have “overheard signals or misinterpreted them”