Former Porsche CEO, CFO Charged

German prosecutors have charged Wendelin Wiedeking, the former Porsche Automobil Holding SE, and ex-CFO Holger Haerter with market manipulation in an options scheme to take over Volkswagen AG.

Prosecutors say Porsche publicly denied five times in 2008 that it intended to hike its VW stake, even as Wiedeking and Haerter were working to amass a 75% holding at Porsche. The plan failed, and the two executives were fired in 2009.

If a state court decides to try Wiedeking and Haerter and finds them guilty, they could face fines or prison sentences of as much as five years.

The authorities, who have been investigating the incident for more than three years, dropped allegations of breach of trust by the two executives.