After the scandal originally broke last year VW tried to claim it was the fault of a rogue engineer... Lawsuits by New York, Massachusetts and Maryland argue differently:
> For the first time, the suits connected Volkswagen’s chief executive, Matthias Müller, to the scandal, saying he was aware of a 2006 decision to not outfit Audi vehicles with equipment needed to meet American clean-air standards.
This is notable because Müller was named CEO after the scandal broke.
> The New York complaint claims that more than two dozen Volkswagen engineers and managers were involved in the deception, including Wolfgang Hatz, the former head of engine and transmission development at Volkswagen and Audi; Ulrich Hackenberg, former head of development for Audi; and Heinz-Jakob Neusser, former head of development for the Volkswagen brand. While several executives have been identified by the media, German prosecutors, because of the country’s strict privacy laws, have named only one suspect, Mr. Winterkorn [CEO at time of scandal becoming public].
That would make sense if they wanted to make it look like "they are bringing a new CEO" but at the same time they also wanted someone to cover it up. If more employees knew he was involved as well, even more of a reason to fear speaking up about it, because as CEO he could fire them.
> For the first time, the suits connected Volkswagen’s chief executive, Matthias Müller, to the scandal, saying he was aware of a 2006 decision to not outfit Audi vehicles with equipment needed to meet American clean-air standards.
This is notable because Müller was named CEO after the scandal broke.
> The New York complaint claims that more than two dozen Volkswagen engineers and managers were involved in the deception, including Wolfgang Hatz, the former head of engine and transmission development at Volkswagen and Audi; Ulrich Hackenberg, former head of development for Audi; and Heinz-Jakob Neusser, former head of development for the Volkswagen brand. While several executives have been identified by the media, German prosecutors, because of the country’s strict privacy laws, have named only one suspect, Mr. Winterkorn [CEO at time of scandal becoming public].