VW managers warned of emissions in May 2014, report says


              Clamps hold probes in the tailpipes of a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI on the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. The car belongs to environmental engineering student, who was allowing North Carolina State University engineering professor Chris Frey to test the car's emissions. Frey has been testing the VW diesels in real world conditions, driving more than 100 miles with monitors in the car tailpipes. He found pollution 10 times higher than the federal standard, and noticed that the worst pollution came as he got on to highways and in stop-and-go traffic. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
Clamps hold probes in the tailpipes of a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI on the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. The car belongs to environmental engineering student, who was allowing North Carolina State University engineering professor Chris Frey to test the car's emissions. Frey has been testing the VW diesels in real world conditions, driving more than 100 miles with monitors in the car tailpipes. He found pollution 10 times higher than the federal standard, and noticed that the worst pollution came as he got on to highways and in stop-and-go traffic. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

A high-ranking employee warned senior Volkswagen managers in May 2014 that U.S. regulators might examine car engine software as part of an investigation into pollution levels, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The warning came in the form of a letter, which was sent more than a year before the German carmaker's public admission that its cars had been equipped with software to manipulate emission test results, the sources said, raising questions about how much senior managers knew about the scandal.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing the company for up to $46 billion for alleged violations of environmental law while regulators and prosecutors are looking to establish what role, if any, had been played by senior managers, including former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn.

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