German Prosecutors Search Daimler Offices in Diesel Emissions Inquiry -<br />By MELISSA EDDY and AMIE TSANGMAY 23, 2017<br />BERLIN — German prosecutors searched the offices of Daimler, the automaker<br />that produces Mercedes cars, on Tuesday as part of an investigation into whether the company improperly evaded emissions rules.<br />In a separate statement, Daimler said the raids were because of “suspicion of fraud<br />and criminal advertising relating to the possible manipulation of exhaust-gas aftertreatment in passenger cars with diesel engines.”<br />The company said it was cooperating with the office of the Stuttgart public prosecutor, but it did not comment further.<br />In the case of Daimler, prosecutors in the German city of Stuttgart said they had raided 11 of the company’s locations, searching for digital and analogue documents<br />that could serve as evidence in their investigation of allegations of fraud and illegal advertising in connection with the company’s diesel cars.<br />Twenty-three prosecutors, working with 230 state and local police officers, carried out the raids across Germany, including in Baden-Württemberg, where Daimler has its headquarters; in Berlin;<br />and in the states of Lower Saxony and Saxony, the authorities said in a statement.<br />The raids signal a deepening inquiry into Daimler, which had already said<br />that several federal and state authorities in Europe and the United States were investigating the emissions control systems used in Mercedes-Benz vehicles.<br />The European Union has charged the Italian government with allowing Fiat Chrysler to sell cars with software intended to evade emissions tests,<br />and it has begun investigating possible oversights in other countries, including Britain and Germany.
