German Court Accepts Market Manipulation Case Against Volkswagen Ex-Chief

A regional court in Germany's Braunschweig has accepted a lawsuit against former Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn on charges of market manipulation in a controversial diesel case, the court said on Thursday

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) A regional court in Germany's Braunschweig has accepted a lawsuit against former Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn on charges of market manipulation in a controversial diesel case, the court said on Thursday.

"The criminal proceedings on the claim of suspicion of market manipulation against Martin Winterkorn have been accepted for consideration," the court said in a press release.

The start date of the court proceedings has not been specified. This is one of the criminal cases against Winterkorn within the diesel scandal. Earlier in September, the same court accepted a case of conspiracy to defraud, including tax evasion and consumer fraud. The new case concerns allegations of violations by Wintercore of the Securities Trading Act, according to which the management of public companies is obliged to inform the public about events that may affect the value of shares.

Winterkorn is accused of not taking action to inform the public in a timely manner, knowing about the manipulation of diesel engines that could lead to financial losses for the company.

The automaker, of which Audi is a subsidiary, was previously accused in the United States of equipping diesel cars with software that underestimates actual emissions of harmful substances. The American government obliged the concern to recall 482,000 Volkswagen and Audi passenger cars sold in the country in 2009-2015. In January 2017, Volkswagen finally agreed with the US authorities to pay a $4.3 billion fine. In May, Volkswagen agreed to pay 9 million Euros to dismiss the case against the head of the auto concern Herbert Diess.