Police raid Volkswagen HQ

Berlin, October 8

The German police swept into Volkswagen's headquarters today, carrying away files and hard disks in their investigation into a massive pollution cheating scandal engulfing the auto giant.

Private apartments were also raided in Volkswagen's hometown of Wolfsburg and other cities, prosecutors said, as the police seek to secure documents and digital data that could point to those responsible for the deception of global proportions.

The raids came as Volkswagen's US chief prepared to face Congress, when he would tell a committee that he knew more than a year ago that the group's cars possibly breached pollution rules.

In testimony released ahead of his hearing before a congressional committee, Michael Horn offered a "sincere apology" over Volkswagen's use of a software designed to cheat pollution tests as he vowed full cooperation with the authorities to shed light on the scam. — AFP