Bribes are said to have flowed for orders in India.
After suspected corruption in the business of VW truck and bus subsidiary Scania in India was exposed internally, German prosecutors are now dealing with the case. The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig initiated appropriate preliminary investigations, as the authorities said on Wednesday.
It is about the suspicion that employees of the Swedish manufacturer – part of the Volkswagen commercial vehicle holding Traton – could have bribed Indian politicians and managers of public transport companies in order to get orders for the delivery of buses. It is not yet clear whether economic crimes can be proven, according to an investigator.
Five-digit euro amounts
The ZDF magazine “Frontal 21” had previously reported on it. According to this, by 2017, among other things, bribes amounting to the converted five-digit euro amounts should have flowed in several cases.
There is also talk of the provision of luxury buses for the wedding reception of the daughter of a high-ranking politician and forged papers. The VW finance subsidiary VWFS partially supported this.
Possible bribery
Scania, according to its own information, examined the processes at the end of 2017 with the help of external auditors and found serious violations of the rules – both by managers and by some established dealers. It was also about possible bribery or corruption. “As a result, the responsible managers left the company.”
Contracts with dealers have also been terminated. However, the authorities were not shown the findings – the evidence was not strong enough for criminal prosecution.
“Detailed check up
Traton added that the indications of misconduct from 2013 to 2017 had been “thoroughly investigated” by the internal auditing department together with lawyers. Then “all relevant bodies” in the VW group were informed.
The activities that were uncovered were about “bribery via business partners and incorrect information in the context of tenders”. This is now turned off.
Allegations rejected
The VW finance division said: “We firmly reject the allegations. According to what was known at the time and according to the current state of knowledge, there are no indications of misconduct by employees in India or here.”
According to the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office, there is a high probability that the preliminary proceedings will soon be passed on to Munich, where Traton's headquarters are located. Whether this will lead to criminal investigations for corruption remains up to the colleagues in Bavaria.
