Investors Sue VW for a Record €8.2 Billion Over Diesel Scandal

Investors in Germany have flooded Volkswagen AG with 1,400 lawsuits totaling some €8.2 billion ($9.1 billion) over lost equity caused by the carmaker’s diesel emission cheating scandal. It’s the country’s largest investor lawsuit ever, according to Bloomberg News.

The complaints claim investors unfairly lost roughly one-third of the value of their holdings over the past 12 months. They accuse VW of failing to quickly disclose at least a year ago that it had rigged 11 million diesel-powered vehicles to evade government emission standards.

VW dismisses the claims as unfounded and insists it followed all capital-market rules regarding disclosure. The 1,400 lawsuits have been filed with a court in Braunschweig near VW headquarters in Wolfsburg. The court says it will need about four weeks to register all the lawsuits.

Bloomberg reports that a separate €547 million ($610 million) lawsuit on behalf of 263 investors has been filed against VW and Porsche Automobil Holding SE. The latter company owns a majority of VW’s voting shares.