Porsche process – Wiedeking defender: “A legal execution of … – Süddeutsche.de

• Ex-Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and his chief financial officer Holger Härter have been acquitted of charges of market manipulation.
• The two managers had tried unsuccessfully in 2008, the much larger Volkswagen Group to take over.
• the prosecution had accused them of having the markets deceived and so cheap VW shares purchased, but could only circumstantial produce.
• the judges criticized the prosecutors. Wiedeking defender Hanns Slapping she attacked in harsh words. His client responded facilitated the acquittal.

from the court of Max Hägler

the Stuttgart District court Ex-Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and its former CFO Holger Härter acquitted of market manipulation on Friday. The two former Porsche executives were the key players in the takeover battle between the little sports car maker Porsche and the much larger Volkswagen Group. The prosecution had accused them to have at that takeover battle eight years ago at first veiled their plans and then disclosed incomplete. This Wiedeking and Härter have cheap shopping VW shares and can avert multibillion dollar losses later.

Along the left from the perspective of the court “unique” decision with a massive criticism of the prosecutor. On the allegations nothing is off, “neither forward nor back, even in the middle,” said the presiding judge Frank Maurer. Their functioning and reasoning is changing, so unusual. Despite an “armada of prosecutors” and six years of preparatory work they had about introduced a new aspect only in the plea. This is not a transparent operation, he criticized.

Hanns figs, the defender of Wiedeking, welcomed the unequivocal judgment of the judge in no uncertain terms. This is “a legal execution of the prosecutor”. The two managers reacted without triumphalism. Wiedeking dictated some words prepared. He was pleased that the court confirmed the innocence, which he always insisted. “Thus ends for me a period of almost seven years of ever new allegations, accusations and public accusations by the prosecution, for which no single proof has been furnished in the whole process.”

No witness or verifier could support the allegations

the accusations of prosecutors based on the year 2008. the Stuttgart-based manager always wanted to take a majority stake in Volkswagen – because they themselves were on the one hand too small to survive in the automotive world, and himself on the other as the far better manager saw. And also for reasons of tradition, a compound have been logical, since both companies have the same ancestor. Engineer Ferdinand Porsche developed not only in Stuttgart engines and sports cars, but also in the Nazi period the VW Beetle – the starting point of today’s “Autostadt” Wolfsburg

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Gradually Wiedeking and Härter had built up a stake in VW, with the knowledge and approval of the heirs. But how far should this participation when plans were made to – and went while everything above board? These questions had the Landgericht Stuttgart negotiated in the past five months.

In the process, however, no witness or verifier could significantly support the allegations of the prosecutor. This acknowledged the prosecution, which is still convinced of the guilt of the two managers – because of evidence. Two and a half years in prison for two and a quarter for Wiedeking and Härter prosecutors had demanded, and therefore the anger of defenders to be drawn: The prosecution had miscalculated and “fantasies” devised. They argue beyond “contrary to the record”, their representatives would like to act with “juridical infantilism” crime writers.

Similar procedures end always acquittals

The criticism of the defenders in the Porsche process classified is. in the lawsuits German Manager who complain their business decisions were criminalized and persecuted coated At various banking processes was and is to hear that – whether Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, BayernLB or currently at the trial of the head of Deutsche Bank. In fact, this procedure is to end again in acquittals or very low penalties. And even in the case Porsche the situation from the start was challenging for the prosecution. The district court did not want to allow only for trial the prosecution initially. Too thin the court published the allegations. Only after complaint at the High Court came to the process

Wiedeking, 63, and hardener, 59, the allegations denied always vehemently. “We were visionaries, but no player” had Wiedeking said at the beginning of the process , They are still proud of their projects to come by trick rich stock trading to a low-cost, synergy-creating merger, although the action finally got out of hand. On the last meters Porsche went then out of money, because of the global financial crisis. The liquidity of the company finally in 2008 was so bad that CFO Härter a bank concealed risks so that Porsche gets the needed credit at all. Because credit fraud, he was therefore sentenced in another criminal case by 2014 to a fine.

Because of the financial difficulties at Porsche Volkswagen finally turned the tables and took over the small sports car maker. What – and you have to Wiedeking and Härter concede – in effect, amounts to the same thing: the majority in the merged carmaker holding heir, the two so powerful as well as feuding clans Porsche and Piëch

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