The diesel scandal in the US gets a new facet. Volkswagen paid several million dollars to managers so they would not leave. US lawyers interpret the payments as “hush money”.
Volkswagen in the USA
Wednesday, 04.04.2018
10:32 clock
In the US, Volkswagen paid around 150 employees to pay € 4.5 million for bonuses, including to managers who played a role in the emissions scandal. That reports Research community “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, NDR and WDR.
The funds flowed to the report according to, among others, the US Chief Justice David Geanacopoulos. With 450,000 dollars, the Audi-America boss Scott Keogh received the highest amount. Already ten of the money recipients had to testify as witnesses in the diesel scandal.
US lawyers suspect that it could have been in the face of the sometimes high-profile beneficiaries and the amount of payments to “hush-money” to persuade those affected not only to stay, but in the case of an interrogation also to loyal statements to the group to tempt ,
“Purchased loyalty”
“That looks like a hush money, then that loyalty is bought – not in the sense of the truth, but in the interests of the company”, quotes the “Southgerman newspaper” Lawyer Michael Hausfeld, who represents VW customers in the Abgasaffäre. The payments would be a signal to the employees immediately to keep quiet.
The Volkswagen Group rejects the suspicion as “nonsense” and at the same time points to the truth of the VW employees in the US investigation into the emissions affair. False or incorrect statements would eventually have “serious criminal consequences” for the VW employees in the US. Also, VW had paid such bonuses even before the emissions scandal and in the fall of 2015 “with a number of highly qualified employees who were important to the company,” such bonus agreements.
US employers pay living bonuses comparatively often. For example, they are granted not only in good times, but also in times of crisis – for example, when insolvency becomes apparent, but not yet established, or when an investigation into a company has become apparent. Almost half of all US corporations, according to the salary information service Payscale grants such bonuses.
Controversial Monkey Tests – Responsible got $ 150,000
Bleibeboni flowed according to the report, however, also to managers who were obviously involved in the controversial emissions tests with monkeys. The VW lawyer Geanacopoulos, for example, had known of these tests, the study according to the report even personally approved and at the same time advised against tests on people. With a salary of $ 800,000, his bonus was $ 150,000.
Other well-paid VW managers would have received up to a third of their annual salary bonus, such as the Volkswagen manager Stuart Johnson. According to the report, he had visited the laboratory for the monkey test before the beginning of the experiments. Suspicious acts in this context: According to the report, the man has been working for the Group for more than 30 years and has never received a leave bonus before.
Wolfgang Schaupensteiner, one of the leading investigators of economic criminal matters, sees these payments critically: “If an employee is demonstrably involved in criminal activities or if he has seriously violated company standards, then one must not expect a bonus, but a termination” quotes the “Süddeutsche“the lawyer.