The German Prosecutor's Office searches the Volkswagen headquarters for alleged illegal payments to the works council

MADRID, 28 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Braunschweig Prosecutor's Office has carried out several searches at the Volkswagen offices at its headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, for alleged payments of excessive salaries to members of the works council that would imply favored treatment contrary to the law.

According to the German newspaper, Handelsblatt, offices of the board of directors, as well as rooms of the works council and the legal department of Volkswagen, were searched for several hours last Tuesday.

"The background to this is the salary payments to the members of the works council in violation of the prohibition of favoritism in the Law on the Constitution of Companies," explained a spokesperson for the Prosecutor's Office.

Additionally, four private addresses "unrelated" to the automaker were searched.

According to the German newspaper, the search warrant indicates that in the spring of 2019 authorized representatives of the group allegedly convinced two judges at the Braunschweig labor court to certify agreements with the works councils in order to give the procedures a legal appearance.

For years, there has been an investigation into whether Volkswagen has been paying excessive salaries to members of the works council. Faced with these suspicions and as a precautionary measure, the German car manufacturer cut the salaries of more than a dozen committee members who held management positions in 2017.