German authorities are investigating a Volkswagen employee suspected of deleting files before a scandal broke over the German carmaker's manipulation of emissions in its diesel cars, according to media reports on Wednesday, dpa reported. The state prosecution in the city of Braunschweig is investigating the man for attempting to cover up the pending scandal by indirectly requesting colleagues to erase files and documents, as reported by broadcasters NDR and WDR, as well as the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Investigation spokesman Klaus Ziehe was quoted as saying that several files were destroyed at the man's request, but that part of the data could be restored. The prosecution said it could not make a final judgement on the impact of the man's actions, but said it did not expect "a major loss of data that would obstruct or delay the investigation into the emmissionas scandal," according to the reports. Authorities did not name the man, who is being investigated for obstruction of justice. Volkswagen declined to comment when approached by dpa. Last year, the United States discovered a so-called defeat device in several Volkswagen diesel models that lowered emissions readings when a car would undergo testing. The company later admitted that it had installed illegal software in some 11 million cars worldwide.
