Pursuits
Ex-Porsche CEO: VW Trial Prosecutors Are ‘Helping Hedge Funds’
- Wiedeking denies allegations on first day of criminal case
- Trial over 2008 failed bid for Volkswagen starts in Stuttgart
This article is for subscribers only.
Former Porsche SE Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking rejected charges he lied about the company’s plan to acquire Volkswagen AG in 2008, telling Stuttgart judges that prosecutors are effectively functioning as agents of hedge funds suing over the failed takeover bid.
Wiedeking addressed the court on the first day of trial Thursday after prosecutors laid out charges he and former Porsche Chief Financial Officer Holger Haerter misled the markets half a dozen times, including withholding details about options used to quietly buy shares before disclosing the bid for what was then the automaker’s larger rival.