Dieselgate: Hatz appeals for his release

Wolfgang Hatz has appealed to Germany’s highest court to be released from a Munich prison over his alleged involvement in Volkswagen’s Dieselgate emissions scandal, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Hatz has been imprisoned without charge for eight months as Bavarian prosecutors attempted to tighten a noose around senior Volkswagen Group figures, including former Chairman Dr Martin Winterkorn.

While Dr Winterkorn was last month indicted by the US Federal Court for allegedly conspiring to mislead regulators, Hatz has not been charged over any offence, in any country. Dr Winterkorn, 70, is still living in Germany and is not in custody, nor is he expected to be extradited to the face the charges in the US.

Hatz, though, is in jail and his continued incarceration without charge is a growing burr under the saddle for the German auto industry.

The German constitutional court in Karlsruhe confirmed to Sueddeutsche Zeitung that a car industry executive had lodged a constitutional complaint over being detained without charge. It declined to confirm the identity of the detainee.

Sources insist his lawyers have made at least three earlier bids for Hatz’s release, including proposals to surrender his passport, wear a tracking bracelet on his ankle, to report twice a day to police in his hometown of Stuttgart and to post a €3 million cash surety.

All were rejected, with Munich prosecutors suggesting they consider him a flight risk due to his properties in Italy and Namibia as well as a yacht moored in the Italian Riviera, just a six-hour drive from Stuttgart.

Hatz’s career took off at Fiat, where he was deeply involved in the development of the common-rail diesel technology that sparked the compression fuel’s popularity in passenger cars.

He spent long periods working for both Audi and Porsche working on engine development, rising to become the Volkswagen Group’s board member for powertrain in 2007.

Hatz walked away from the post in 2012 to return to Porsche as head of development, pushing cars like the turbocharged 718 Cayman and Boxster and the 911 R and a successful return to the Le Mans 24 Hour race.

However, his professional timeline made him a clear target of suspicion. He was the head of engine development at Audi from 2001 to 2007 (the year it showed its 'clean diesel' cheating technology to the world), and then he was responsible for all Volkswagen Group engines and transmissions for another five years.

Hatz was succeeded as Volkswagen Group head of powertrain by Heinz-Jakob Neusser, one of the five executives first charged by the US Department of Justice over Dieselgate in 2016.

The other four are Richard Dorenkamp, Jens Hadler, Bernd Gottweis and Jürgen Peter. Dr Winterkorn has been added to the list. Provided they remain in Germany, none of them will face US justice, but investigations in Germany are ongoing.

Former Audi senior diesel developer Giovanni Pamio is more at risk of extradition, because he is an Italian citizen already sitting in a Munich prison cell.

Two other former Volkswagen Group managers have already been convicted in the US, including James Liang, the engineer who was fined $US200,000 and imprisoned for 40 months despite exposing the scandal’s operations to investigators.

The other, Oliver Schmidt, was imprisoned for seven years and fined $US400,000 after contacting DOJ officials to ask if he was free to travel to Florida for a family holiday.