Former works council boss Bernd Osterloh now also has to answer for himself in court because of possibly excessive works council remuneration at VW. The Braunschweig regional court has opened criminal proceedings against him, a court spokesman confirmed at the request of the German Press Agency. “The main proceedings have been opened by decision of the chamber and the charges brought by the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office have been admitted to the main hearing,” said the regional court spokesman. There is therefore another defendant in addition to Osterloh. They are accused of aiding and abetting the granting of possibly excessive remuneration in three cases. There are no dates for the hearing yet. Osterloh himself declined to comment. “I will not comment on it,” he said when asked by the German Press Agency. BGH annuls acquittals. The background is a criminal case that ran until 2021 before the Braunschweig regional court and now has to be reopened. At the time, four VW human resources managers were accused of having granted excessive remuneration to several works council members. It was also about the payment of Osterloh, who received up to 750,000 euros in bonus-rich years. The regional court had acquitted the accused at the time, but the verdict was overturned by the Federal Court of Justice in 2023. The process must now be reopened. There are no dates for this yet, said the court spokesman. More on the subject Osterloh himself was only heard as a witness in the proceedings at the time. Now the public prosecutor is accusing him of aiding and abetting. The court spokesman said the 68-year-old and his co-defendant will now be tried separately. “These are two separate procedures.” Osterloh headed the powerful VW works council from 2005 to 2021 and then moved to the truck subsidiary Traton (MAN, Scania) as human resources director. His previous deputy, Daniela Cavallo, took over the management of the Wolfsburg employee representation. Osterloh retired in 2023.
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