4 charged over pay for Volkswagen employee council members

German prosecutors say they have charged four current and former personnel managers at Volkswagen over the payment of allegedly excessive salaries and bonuses to members of the automaker's influential employee council. Prosecutors in Braunschweig said Tuesday that the four — two former management board members, along with one current and one former senior manager, whom they didn't identify by name — were charged with breach of trust.

They are accused of granting five members of the employee council, including its head, excessive salaries and bonuses between 2011 and 2016. Prosecutors allege that the former and current managers disregarded legal requirements in determining the payments. They say that their decisions cost Volkswagen 5.05 million euros (USD 5.57 million).

The case is separate from various legal proceedings related to Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal.