Volkswagen has denied allegations that Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch knew about the carmaker's emissions test cheating almost three months before U.S. authorities made it public in September 2015.

Citing internal documents from investigators, German weekly Bild am Sonntag reported that Poetsch, VW's finance head at the time, learned about the carmaker's violations of the rules in late June 2015.

The paper cites a confidential presentation from the VW legal department, available to investigators in proceedings about the carmaker's alleged market manipulation.