You may or may not recall that back in 2008, Porsche attempted a takeover of the much larger Volkswagen. The takeover bid failed, costing the sportscar-manufacturer quite a bit of money, while former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking walked away as the highest-paid German executive that year.
Since then, the former Porsche CEO has retired, and in 2012, formal charges of market manipulation were brought against him and former Porsche CFO Holger Haerter.
Now, more charges are being added to the list of allegations against Wiedeking and Haerter; Reuters reports that the Stuttgart, Germany regional court has filed charges against the former Porsche CEO and CFO regarding an October, 2008 disclosure from the automaker of holding options which would give Porsche nearly a three-quarters stake in Volkswagen.
Shares in VW soared as a result of the 2008 Porsche press statement. The prosecutors in Stuttgart explained: “The deceptive press statement is laid to charges against the defendants because it suggested that in [the] future only a few VW common shares would be available on the market and, thus, [falsely implied] a permanent market squeeze.”
Lawyers for the two defendants – former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and former CFO Holger Haerter – responded to the new charges, saying in a statement that “the accusations raised in the belated charges are evidently construed, factually wrong and unfounded.”
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