First, the Braunschweig regional court closed the proceedings against Porsche SE boss Pötsch, and now the Stuttgart public prosecutors are no longer investigating for market manipulation. And the case is also settled for ex-VW boss Müller.
Stuttgart (dpa) - The head of the VW holding Porsche SE, Hans Dieter Pötsch, no longer has to fear legal proceedings for market manipulation in Stuttgart.
The public prosecutor has stopped investigations against him and ex-Volkswagen boss Matthias Müller in connection with the diesel scandal after around three and a half years, as a spokeswoman said on Thursday - in the case of Pötsch against payment of 1.5 million euros.
The proceedings revolved around the suspicion that the financial consequences of the VW diesel affair for Porsche SE had been communicated to investors too late. The PSE rejects the allegations as unfounded. The holding is the main shareholder of VW. Müller had also been a member of its board for several years.
Three months ago, the criminal proceedings against Pötsch and the current VW boss Herbert Diess at the Braunschweig regional court had already been terminated before the trial began. Pötsch is also the head of the supervisory board at VW. Volkswagen transferred nine million euros - 4.5 million per person. Even in the Stuttgart procedure, Pötsch does not pay the additional money himself. This time the PSE takes over the bill.
"In the opinion of the supervisory board, the termination of the investigation against Mr. Pötsch is in the interests of the company," said a spokesman. "On the basis of its conviction that there are no indications of breaches of duty by members of the executive board of Porsche SE in connection with the diesel issue, the supervisory board decided, after careful examination and consideration, within the scope of its discretion that Porsche SE would accept the monetary requirement to be paid by Mr. Pötsch . "
The Stuttgart public prosecutors continue to investigate the former VW and PSE chief executive Martin Winterkorn, as the authority's spokeswoman said. He is also concerned with suspected market manipulation. Winterkorn continues to be charged with this charge in Braunschweig. The decision whether to go to trial or not is still pending.
The diesel affair for Porsche SE is not over with the end of the criminal investigation. The holding company continues to be confronted with a large number of lawsuits from shareholders demanding damages totaling around 1.1 billion euros. They also accuse the PSE of having informed them too late about the financial consequences of the diesel scandal. The holding company also rejects these allegations.
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