Lawmaker fined in VW scandal

BERLIN – A former German state lawmaker is to pay a US$15 500 fine for using prostitutes at the expense of Volkswagen AG, prosecutors said yesterday.

Guenter Lenz, 47, stepped down last month as the head of the employee council at the automaker’s commercial vehicles division. In June, he gave up his seat in the state parliament of Lower Saxony, where he represented the centre-left Social Democrats.Prosecutors in Braunschweig said a court in nearby Wolfsburg, where Volkswagen is headquartered, convicted Lenz on two counts of being an accessory to breach of trust and imposed the fine.Lenz’s lawyer on Wednesday informed the court that he would accept the fine and would not file an appeal, prosecutors said in a statement.Lenz was accused of using prostitutes during trips to Seoul and to India in 2001 and 2002 at a total cost of about US$825 – which, prosecutors said, was charged to VW by Klaus-Joachim Gebauer, a former personnel executive since charged with breach of trust, “with the knowledge, or at least the approval, of Mr Lenz.”The Lenz case is part of a wider investigation revolving around whether VW employee representatives received illegal privileges, including lavish foreign trips paid for by the company.The probe started after Volkswagen alerted prosecutors to possible wrongdoing.The employee council has considerable power under German law to approve working conditions and rules and many other aspects of running a business.Nampa-APIn June, he gave up his seat in the state parliament of Lower Saxony, where he represented the centre-left Social Democrats.Prosecutors in Braunschweig said a court in nearby Wolfsburg, where Volkswagen is headquartered, convicted Lenz on two counts of being an accessory to breach of trust and imposed the fine.Lenz’s lawyer on Wednesday informed the court that he would accept the fine and would not file an appeal, prosecutors said in a statement.Lenz was accused of using prostitutes during trips to Seoul and to India in 2001 and 2002 at a total cost of about US$825 – which, prosecutors said, was charged to VW by Klaus-Joachim Gebauer, a former personnel executive since charged with breach of trust, “with the knowledge, or at least the approval, of Mr Lenz.”The Lenz case is part of a wider investigation revolving around whether VW employee representatives received illegal privileges, including lavish foreign trips paid for by the company.The probe started after Volkswagen alerted prosecutors to possible wrongdoing.The employee council has considerable power under German law to approve working conditions and rules and many other aspects of running a business.Nampa-AP