VW headquarters in Wolfsburg: dispute with Prevent, recordings, an arson attack and a dead person in the car
Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / picture alliance / dpaThere is a dramatic turn in the VW bugging affair. According to a report in the Wolfsburger Nachrichten, a VW employee whose house was arson attacked in May was found dead in a burned-out car on Wednesday. The body was discovered in a car in the village of Rottorf (Helmstedt district). According to the newspaper, the dead person is the VW employee, who is a suspect in the Prevent wiretapping affair.
A spokeswoman for the Braunschweig public prosecutor expressed herself reluctantly to the newspaper. "The autopsy result is now partially available. On the body of the corpse found in the vehicle, no evidence of an external influence could be found," she said. The body has not yet been identified with certainty. She cannot provide any further information yet.
A spokeswoman for the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office had only confirmed on Monday that there was a possible connection between the arson attack on the house in May and the VW bugging affair. "A possible connection to the fire proceedings will be examined by us", it said with a view to parallel ongoing investigations to secretly recorded conversations, how the unpopular supplier should be dealt with. A senior Volkswagen employee is said to have recorded this in 2017 and 2018 - the car manufacturer then filed a criminal complaint.
VW wanted to "control" Prevent - bitter dispute with the Hastor family
Officially, the Braunschweig public prosecutors investigated the case of the intercepted Prevent consultations against unknown persons. Volkswagen and Prevent have been in a bitter clinch for years. The auto supplier controlled by the Bosnian entrepreneurial family Hastor had temporarily suspended the supply of gearbox housings and seat covers in 2016, which forced VW to an expensive production stop for several days at the main plant in Wolfsburg and at other locations. The trigger was a heated dispute about prices and delivery conditions. There were similar conflicts in several other countries, and Prevent also fought with other car manufacturers.
more on the subject
Dispute with supplier Prevent: Mole apparently exposed in bugging affair at Volkswagen
Conflict with riot supplier Prevent: VW files criminal charges in spy affair
Bugging affair at the car manufacturer: Prevent threatens VW with further legal action
The wiretapping that became known recently involved confidential audio material from a VW working group. Before the group canceled all contracts with Prevent in March 2018, company representatives are said to have had a longer consultation on whether and how the supplier could be "controlled", as it is called in the industry jargon. VW wants to hold back with statements while the public prosecutor's investigations are ongoing. But it is already certain: "Volkswagen was the victim of an illegal wiretapping attack."
Prevent, in turn, had no knowledge of the recordings, a spokesman for the group said. One was certainly not involved in their creation and now see themselves damaged, which is why legal steps are being examined. In the past, the company had accused VW of having shadowed and spied on employees by order.
la / mmo