Audi investigated for falsifying documents and forging VINs in South Korea

Audi is under investigation in Germany for falsifying documents, mileage readings and vehicle identification numbers in South Korea since 2013. According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the investigation currently focuses on three non-board-members, but "there could be more." And yes, this is (of course) related to the far-reaching Dieselgate emissions cheating bombshell that we've been hearing about for the last few years.

Last year, one unnamed Audi employee in South Korea was convicted of fraud in a case that's linked to this new German investigation. That employee was sentenced to 18 months in prison for tampering with documents in order to make them appear legal and certified for sale in South Korea.

According to reports, evidence of the crimes turned up during an internal audit conducted by Audi in 2016. But it wasn't until the following year that German authorities came into possession of the information after a raid on Audi's offices in Germany. According to German news site Süddeutsche Zeitung, Audi wasn't obligated to self-report evidence of such violations to prosecutors. But maybe they should have anyway, right?

We don't expect that this is the last we'll hear of this sordid case, regardless of how weary we've grown of hearing the latest soot-tainted wrinkles of the diesel emissions scandal. German reports cite dealings with some sort of unnamed Chinese gang, which makes us think some truly strange twists and turns may still be revealed. In other words, stay tuned, and pass the popcorn.