A former Volkswagen AG manager, Klaus-Joachim Gebauer, and former work council head Klaus Volkert must stand trial over their alleged roles in a bribery scandal at the automaker, a court ruled. The Regional Court of Braunschweig accepted the case and will start the trial in mid-November, Ingo Gross, the court's spokesman, said in an e-mail today. An exact date hasn't been scheduled, Gross said. The case is part of a two-year-probe into allegations managers at Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, approved the use of company funds to pay for bonuses, trips and prostitutes for labor leaders in exchange for favorable votes on policy.
See "Ex-Volkswagen Manager, Labor Leader to Stand Trial", Karin Matussek, Bloomberg News, September 18, 2007