Criminal investigation over Volkswagen emissions scandal

The German car manufacturer acknowledged two weeks ago it had deliberately deceived officials about how much its diesel cars polluted.

The former chief executive resigned on Wednesday, and Porsche boss Matthias Mueller was announced as his replacement on Friday.

The investigation will look at fraud accusations due to the sale of vehicles with manipulated emissions-test results, prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany, said in a statement on Monday.

Prosecutors will try to determine who was responsible, the statement said.

Bloomberg reports Volkswagen has also filed a criminal complaint in the case.

Volkswagen's luxury brand Audi said on Monday that 2.1 million of its cars have been affected by the emissions scandal that has engulfed the German car manufacturer.

Affected models include the A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and Q5, an Audi spokesperson said on Monday, reports Reuters.

In Western Europe 1.42 million Audi vehicles are affected, with 577,000 in Germany and almost 13,000 in the United States the spokesman said.

Meanwhile the car manufacturer's board has suspended research and development officials at VW passenger cars, Audi and Porsche in the emissions scandal, Reuters reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Last week a senior source told Reuters that Audi R&D boss Ulrich Hackenberg, Porsche R&D head Wolfgang Hatz and VW's US chief executive Michael Horn would be dismissed at a meeting of the supervisory board.

But a separate source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday that the R&D chiefs have only been suspended.

The supervisory board agreed last Friday to put a number of unnamed employees on leave until the details of the scandal were cleared up.

Audi, VW and Porsche have declined to comment.