Wiedeking Avoids Criminal Trial on Porsche’s Bid for VW

A German court has rejected criminal charges of market manipulation against former Porsche SE CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and ex-CFO Holger Haerter.

The court ruled there was insufficient evidence to warrant a trial. Prosecutors filed a criminal indictment against the two men in December 2012 after three years of investigations.

The indictment claimed Porsche decided in February 2008 to acquire 75% of Volkswagen AG. It said the holding company repeatedly denied the plan until early October, then revealed it had already assembled options for 74% of VW and intended to acquire 75% of the larger company.

The resulting run-up in VW's shares hurt hedge funds that had bet VW's stock price would decline. Several funds are pursuing roughly €5 billion in civil lawsuits that claim Porsche misled investors.