It will be bad for Volkswagen – THE WORLD

DACE, the whole thing was not without risk, did not know the person responsible from the beginning: As in the case of Volkswagen in September last year, within days not only a new chief Executive but a new Chairman had to be found, the owner is such a hard cut, but put on well-known heads.

Matthias Müller, Porsche’s chief for years, in the group Board of Directors, should lead the of the exhaust-gas affair, which shook the company; Hans Dieter Pötsch, the former chief financial officer, should check Müller. A new beginning that was not, at least not a human. However, on the principles of good corporate governance, it was not a consideration, and the Porsche and Piëch families by the oppressed as a majority owner Pötsch as their candidate. We are paying the price now. Since Sunday is known that the public Prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig has extended its investigation due to a suspicion of market manipulation on Pötsch. Pötsch is suspected to have the capital markets that is intentionally manipulated by the group has to be informed late of fraud in the Exhaust gas. Receive the Federal financial Supervisory authority (BaFin) had the entire former Board of management of VW, but the Prosecutor’s office initiated first, only investigations of the winter grain and Diess.

the decision of The prosecutors to investigate the former chief financial officer, at the time had surprised, after all, it belonged explicitly to Pötschs tasks, the financial markets, special events in the group via Ad-hoc-inform message. However, in June of this year, the investigating authority had no suspicion against Mr. Pötsch. This has now changed. From the Supervisory Board circles, it is said, Pötsch had been informed, without justification, over against him started investigation.

For investors, it is good news that the public Prosecutor’s office is now also a initial suspicion of deliberate market manipulation in the case of Pötsch. The authority had always kept all options open. “The fact that we have entered two of the Accused, does not necessarily mean that the criminal has directed the display of the BaFin targeted against these two persons,” said spokesman Klaus Ziehe at the time of the “world”. Against whom to investigate, hanging, not only of Displays, but from their own knowledge of the prosecutors. The procedure could be extended at any time, was clear.

With the proceedings against Mr. Pötsch are now the worst fears for many in the VW group. By now, the new top management is heavily encumbered. Volkswagen emphasises in its communication that it was still convinced of the innocence of Hans Dieter Pötsch. From the group’s circles, it is said, to assume that only an indictment of Pötsch, not even the initial suspicion’m going to put the chief inspector in serious distress. Especially the state of lower Saxony, however, must answer now, whether or not a chief inspector, is determined against the self, for Prime Minister, Stephan Weil (SPD), which is actually portable. It is up to the Prosecutor and, if necessary, later to the courts to analyze the criminal relevance of the former operations at VW, and to evaluate, Weil’s spokesperson on Sunday. “The representatives of the state of lower Saxony in the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen will position themselves out of respect for the ongoing investigation in any way in terms of content, to all of this,” it says. Also Pötsch, the presumption of innocence.

However, revealed a year after the scandal, still new dimensions to the Manipulation. As the “Bild am Sonntag” reported, has been discovered by the Californian environmental authority Carb in the summer of this year, another illegal software function in an Audi with a V6 engine. This Software have used the Audi for the Manipulation of CO2 levels for Diesel and gasoline in Europe. Doubt on the previous reconnaissance work of the group and their old-new tip seem appropriate.