FRANKFURT, Sept 24 — Volkwagen’s former chief Martin Winterkorn will stand trial for market manipulation in connection with the huge “dieselgate” scandal, on top of previously announced fraud charges, a German court said today.
Winterkorn allegedly “deliberately failed to inform the capital market in good time” despite knowledge of the installation of emissions-cheating software in 500,000 cars in the US market, said a regional court in Brunswick, near VW’s base in Wolfsburg.
The former VW chief executive is accused of having withheld the “considerable financial risk arising from claims for damages and penalties in the US since spring 2015,” the court added.
Winterkorn’s lawyers said he “firmly rejects” the court’s accusations.
“The facts underlying this accusation are complicated and the relevant capital market law issues are largely disputed,” they said in a statement.
“The defence had shown that the allegations made by the public prosecutor’s office were unfounded on both factual and legal grounds.”
The same court said earlier this month that Winterkorn would face trial for fraud among other charges in relation to the long-running diesel scandal has rocked the German auto industry since it came to light five years ago.
Volkswagen refused to comment directly on the new charges but said it “remains convinced that it has properly fulfilled its disclosure obligations in connection with the diesel issue.”
VW admitted in September 2015 that it installed devices in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide to make them seem less polluting in lab tests than they actually were on the road.
Winterkorn resigned days after the revelations, while denying any personal wrongdoing.
The saga has already cost VW more than €30 billion (RM146 million) in fines, legal costs and compensation payments to car owners.
Current Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and supervisory board chair Hans Dieter Poetsch were previously accused of market manipulation, but proceedings were dropped after a nine-million-euro settlement. — AFP
