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I see that a former Volkswagen boss is on trial in Germany on no fewer than 44 counts of bribery, not to mention breach of trust charges. Peter Hartz, the one-time personnel chief, is alleged to have paid out nearly two million euros to the former works council leader, Klaus Volkert According to press reports, Hartz alleges that all this went on directly under the nose of Volkswagen and Porsche supremo, Ferdinand Piech, without his ever finding out. Mea non culpa would seem an unlikely plea from Piech, given that part of Hartz’s defence is that forging close ties with the Volkswagen works council is widely understood to be the ‘Volkswagen system’. These ties were close enough, in fact, for Hartz allegedly to have funded Volkert’s Brazilian mistress to the tune of almost 400,000 euros. Then there were the firm’s outings: with a kitty of more than 200,000 euros, Volkert and his pals were treated by Volkswagen to what one report describes as ‘lavish private foreign trips’. And you wondered why Volkswagens were expensive. These tactics belong to Gulf states, not Golf, yet Hartz is likely to walk away with a non-custodial sentence: probably a couple of years’ probation and a fine. But Hartz is not alone. In the coming months, one of his underlings, Klaus-Joachim Gebauer, will be up before the beak to answer allegations that he used the company’s money to fund sex trips for Volkert. And who sanctioned the bungs? Hr. Hartz, says Gebauer. It will be a busy period for the Brunswick court. Apart from Hartz, Gebauer, and in due course, the globe-trotting Volkert, appearing before the bench will also be one Helmuth Schuster. Hr Schuster, another VeeDub personnel chief, but this time for Skoda, is alleged to have set up a number of dummy companies to hide bribes. For whom and for what purposes is not clear, but also he is alleged to have embezzled company funds. Maybe it was the only way he could afford a Volkswagen .
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