BRAUNSCHWEIG (dpa-AFX) - Former Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has denied responsibility in the diesel affair in the billion-euro investor trial. "I had the impression that the issue was being dealt with properly," Diess said as a witness at the Higher Regional Court in Braunschweig on Tuesday. In the months before the scandal came to light in September 2015, the people involved around the then Group boss Martin Winterkorn had appeared very competent.

Even a few days before the scandal came to light, it was still a technical issue for him, but not an imminent scandal, Diess said in the first two hours of his hearing. According to his recollection, Winterkorn had been clear in his instructions at the time. "No further action was necessary on my part," Diess said. "I was sure that this was in good hands."

The manipulations came to light in September 2015. In the proceedings under the Capital Markets Model Case Act (KapMug), investors are fighting for compensation. They had suffered losses in the billions. After Diess, the list of witnesses also includes former Group CEOs Matthias Müller (February 7) and Martin Winterkorn (February 14 and 15)./bch/DP/jha