[VW SCANDAL] Arrest warrant for VW Korea ex-chief dismissed

[THE INVESTOR] An arrest warrant for Renault Samsung Motor CEO Park Dong-hoon, former chief of Volkswagen Korea, was rejected by the court on Aug. 1.

The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the request, saying that it does not see the necessity of the warrant after having reviewed the case so far. Also, it believes that an arrest warrant at the moment can violate the suspects’ right to defend himself. 

If the court had approved the prosecutors’ request, Park would have been the first CEO of VW Korea unit to face arrest since they launched a probe in January over the German carmaker’s emission cheating scandal.

The 63-year-old has been charged with fabrication of private documents, obstruction of justice and violation of the Clean Air Conservation Act.

Prosecutors believe Park -- who headed the Korean unit from its initiation in 2005 to 2013 -- sold emission-rigged Tiguan crossovers for two years, from July 2011 to August 2013, even though he was aware that the German head office changed the software of the cars to cheat on emission level. He now heads Renault Samsung Motors.

He is also suspected of manipulating emissions and noise level tests documents from August 2010 to February 2015 to secure approval from Korea’s state-run agency to be eligible to import.

During the investigation, Park denied the allegation, saying he was unaware of the emission rigging. However, based on email transactions between the local unit and the German headquarters, the prosecutors were certain of Park’s involvement.

The prosecution summoned Park twice in July, filing an arrest warrant with the court on July 27.

It is unclear whether the prosecution will continue to seek a warrant after collecting more evidence.

Prosecutors worry that the latest court decision can make it more difficult to summon Johannes Thammer, CEO of Audi Volkswagen Korea, who is suspected of importing emission rigged cars to Korea and manipulating documents to the Korean government.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)