By William Boston 

BERLIN -- The chief executive of Volkswagen AG's luxury brand Audi, jailed Monday in a probe into his alleged role in the car maker's diesel-emissions cheating scandal, has pledged to cooperate with prosecutors and could be released within days, a Munich prosecutor said Tuesday.

Rupert Stadler is the highest-ranking Volkswagen executive to be arrested on allegations stemming from Volkswagen's admission in 2015 to rigging millions of diesel-powered cars to cheat emissions tests. He was arrested on Monday after prosecutors said they found evidence that he was planning to interfere with the investigation.

" Mr. Stadler has declared that he was willing to testify," Stephan Necknig, a Munich prosecutor said. "We expect to question him tomorrow or during the course of the week."

Mr. Necknig said Mr. Stadler could be brought before a judge soon to review the grounds that led to him being detained. Depending on how forthcoming he is in his testimony this week, Mr. Stadler could be released soon, Mr. Necknig said.

"If he is really cooperative, then there would no longer be any danger that he planned to interfere with the investigation. It depends on what he says," Mr. Necknig said.

Mr. Stadler's attorney didn't return a request for comment Tuesday. Mr. Stadler has in the past said he had no prior knowledge that illegal software had been installed on Volkswagen or Audi engines.

The Munich prosecutors didn't say this week what evidence they had found that led them to suspect that Mr. Stadler was seeking to interfere with their probe.

Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 19, 2018 07:26 ET (11:26 GMT)