Anna Stefanopoulou, a mechanical-engineering professor and internal combustion expert at the University of Michigan who reportedly exposed the Volkswagen emissions scandal, burst the Greek media bubble with a statement on her site:

I was not involved in the research or data analysis that exposed the VW issue as some Greek language articles and blogs stated.

The data analysis for the VW emissions was done in West Virginia University’s Center for Alternative Fuels Engines and Emissions.

I am an expert in powertrain control. When interviewed in http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/your-car-computer-good-or-bad-thing/, I was explaining the fundamental challenges in reducing emissions and fuel consumption at low cost, and the electronic algorithms involved.

It’s a pity, because many Greeks would have liked for an ethnic Greek woman — Greek-American in this case — to cause German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble the same headache he has caused some in the country.

Regardless of who broke the scandal, the results are the same. The reputation of “German automotive engineering” is left tarnished, customers are enraged and the fallout could, in fact, affect German GDP, swaying a fragile eurozone with it, as it has already wiped billions from VW shares.

The real person who exposed the scandal is an unassuming West Virginia engineer, Daniel Carder, aged 45. Carder and his small research team at West Virginia University proved that Volkswagen AG was cheating on US vehicle emissions tests while working on a $50,000 study.