Thursday, November 18, 2021
Ex-boss Degenhart in sight
Investigations against Continental sizes
Continental will not celebrate its 150th anniversary until October. And now this: yesterday the chief financial officer was dismissed. The VW diesel scandal is simmering. And the prosecution is expanding its investigation to include former top-tier managers.
The Hanover public prosecutor’s office has expanded its investigation into the VW diesel scandal to include former top managers of the supplier Continental. Affected are ex-CEO Elmar Degenhart, CFO Wolfgang Schäfer, who was recalled on Wednesday, and a former board member of the Powertrain division, which has since been split off from Conti, said a spokesman for the investigative authority.
The allegations are therefore of aiding and abetting fraud and breach of trust as well as willful breach of duty of supervision. On Wednesday, documents and data were secured in a law firm commissioned by Conti. When asked whether Schäfer’s recall the day before was related to the search, the spokesman for the authorities said: “I assume so.” He added: “As part of the evaluation of the previously confiscated documents, we repeatedly come across clues and new findings.” This led to renewed searches. The result of the operation is currently being compiled. Continental’s compliance department in Frankfurt had already been searched last week.
The market reacts
In an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, the day of the search, the Continental Supervisory Board approved the termination of the Executive Board contract with Wolfgang Schäfer with immediate effect. The changes “are related to the already known investigations by the Hanover public prosecutor’s office,” said the company. The step hit the Conti share strongly.
In connection with the diesel emissions scandal at Volkswagen, the prosecutors had searched offices at several Conti locations for a long time. The investigation is about whether employees were guilty of aiding and abetting fraud and indirect false certification in the years 2006 to 2015. The software used in a 1.6 liter diesel engine developed by VW for sale in Europe came from Continental. The supplier had previously asserted that such motor controls are programmed by the customers to their respective needs and that he himself was not involved in the manipulation.