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Volkswagen in Brazil: Board of Directors is said to have known about exploitation
Photo: © Paulo Whitaker / Reuters/ REUTERS
According to a media report in Brazil, the Volkswagen Group has to face a new investigation.
As NDR, SWR and "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported on Sunday, the local VW subsidiary has been accused of exploiting slave labor, human trafficking and systematic human rights violations in hundreds of cases.
The allegations relate to the period from 1974 to 1986.
During this time, the carmaker set up the Companhia Vale do Rio Cristalino farm on the edge of the Amazon basin, the report said.
The alleged crimes are said to have been committed on the farm site on temporary workers who were used for clearing work - according to the information "probably with the knowledge of the VW board in Wolfsburg".
The Brazilian investigative authorities officially informed Volkswagen Brazil of the proceedings in an official notification on May 19, 2022.
The company was summoned to a hearing on June 14 before the Labor Court in the capital Brasília.
According to the report, the company did not want to comment on request with reference to the possible legal proceedings in Brazil.
However, it has assured that it takes the allegations very seriously.
mike/AFP
