BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say they have charged Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch, along with former CEO Martin Winterkorn, with market manipulation in connection with the diesel emissions scandal that erupted in 2015.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig said Tuesday that the three men are accused of deliberately having informed markets too late about the costs to the company that would result from the scandal.

That, they said in a statement, meant that they improperly influenced the company's share price.

Winterkorn resigned shortly after the scandal became public.