A former works council leader at car giant Volkswagen is set to face trial in Germany over suspected excessive payments, a court spokesman confirmed to dpa on Friday.
Former head of the powerful Volkswagen works council Bernd Osterloh and another defendant in the case are accused of aiding and abetting the granting of possibly excessive remuneration in three cases, according to the District Court in Braunschweig.
No trial date has been set yet, the spokesman said.
Osterloh refused to comment on the case when asked for a statement by dpa.
It comes after Volkswagen HR managers were acquitted in a related case at the Braunschweig District Court in 2021, after being charged with granting excessive remuneration to several works council members, including to Osterloh, who received up to €750,000 in some years.
The ruling was overturned by the Federal Court of Justice in 2023, ordering the case to be retried. No date has been set for this trial either, the spokesman said.
Osterloh, 68, only featured as a witness in the original trial, but the public prosecutor’s office has since accused him of aiding and abetting the payments, leading to separate proceedings against him and a co-defendant.
Osterloh headed the Volkswagen works council from 2005 to 2021 before he took up the post of HR chief at Volkswagen truck subsidiary Traton which owns well-known brands such as MAN and Scania.
He retired in 2023.