Porsche CEO Confirms His Office Among Those Raided: Handelsblatt

(Bloomberg) -- Oliver Blume, chief executive officer of Volkswagen AG’s Porsche unit, said his office was among those searched by public prosecutors last week, the Handelsblatt reported.

“It is true that several Porsche offices were searched on May 28, including my office,” Blume told the newspaper when being asked whether he is one of the people accused by prosecutors. The CEO added he can’t provide any further details on the proceedings.

Stuttgart public prosecutors have initiated a preliminary probe against Blume, Stuttgarter Nachrichten reported last week. Investigation focuses on the suspicion of excessive payment to former works council chief Uwe Hueck, according to the report.

Porsche had previously looked into the issue of works council compensation and “this is why we have been seeking discussions with the tax authorities on the appropriateness of the compensation for a long time," Blume told the Handelsblatt in an interview.

He added it is his duty to “lead by example” on governance and compliance issues and that Porsche “must constantly put governance and compliance issues to the test.” Handelsblatt said it also conducted an interview with Blume in his office a few days before the raid. There was no monitor, desktop computer, laptop or paper at that time, according to the newspaper.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Erhard Krasny at ekrasny@bloomberg.net, Crystal Chui, Andrew Davis

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