Germany Probes VW Corruption Allegations

Prosecutors in Stuttgart are investigating whether Volkswagen AG and purchasing chief Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz failed to prevent an alleged bribery scheme involving German soccer club VfL Wolfsburg.

Garcia Sanz is chairman of the club's supervisory board.

In 2011 authorities charged two VW purchasing employees and three former managers of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Systems unit with bribery. Prosecutors claim that T-Systems sought a €345 million telecommunications contract from VW in exchange for continuing its €16 million sponsorship of VfL Wolfsburg.

The current probe is into whether VW lacked the internal controls to prevent the alleged corruption, according to the prosecutors. They say that such violations, if proved, would be administrative, not criminal.

VW says claims that it didn't do enough to prevent bribery are "baseless."