Prosecutors on Friday raided the local unit of Volkswagen’s office over allegations that the global automaker had not properly executed the recall orders on its emissions-rigged cars.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said it confiscated computer hard drives and documents from Volkswagen Korea’s headquarters in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, as well as from the houses of high-ranking company officials in charge of product certification.

Investigators procured data related to gas emissions and business records, along with emails exchanged with the company’s headquarters in Germany.


The move came after VW Korea failed to satisfy the government requirements for its recall plan. The Environment Ministry last month filed a criminal lawsuit against the company after deciding that its plan to recall some 125,000 of its vehicles was missing crucial elements, including cause of defects and a plan to improve them.

Korean law stipulates that those who do not comply with the government’s recall orders can face up to five years in jail or a fine of up to 30 million won ($24,300).

The ministry had filed a lawsuit against VW Korea’s managing director Johannes Thammer and Terence Bryce Johnson, head of overseas sales at Audi of VW Group.

The company has been accused of violating the Clean Air Conservation Act, which can lead to imprisonment of up to seven years or up to 100 million won in fines.

Last year, the ministry found in its emission tests that some of the VW models sold in Korea had used “defeat-device” software to bypass the pollution tests. It ordered the company to recall the rigged vehicles in November.

The Fair Trade Commission in January launched an examination of the company’s televised and print media advertisements to determine whether it misled the customers with false advertising by exaggerating capacities of its diesel engine vehicles.

VW Korea reportedly complied with Friday’s raid, and said that the company’s position to “actively cooperate with the investigation” remains unchanged.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)