Porsche offices raided as part of payments investigation

German prosecutors have raided the offices and homes of a number of senior Porsche officials in Germany as part of an investigation into irregular payments and information leaks.

The raids, which took place on Tuesday 28 May, were focused on offices at Porsche’s headquarters in Zuffenhausen and its engineering base in Weissach.

Prosecutors in Baden-Württemberg carried out the raids after launching an investigation into a tax official, who is suspected of leaking confidential information to a tax advisor of Porsche AG in exchange for receiving favours. Porsche managers are also suspected of making 'disproportionate' payments to a member of the Porsche Works Council.

Among the accused are six current employees, who include several Porsche executives, according to a statement by the Stuttgart public prosecutors office.

"We are investigating whether employees of Porsche could be held responsible for bribery and false statements,” said the lead prosecutor, Heiner Römhild.

The raids – which involved 10 lawyers from the Stuttgart public prosecutors office and a further 167 members of the state criminal police of Baden-Württemberg, the Stuttgart police and tax investigators from Stuttgart, Aalen, Karlsruhe and Ludwigsburg – were also made on private residences of Porsche employees in Karlsruhe, Ostalbkreis and Pforzheim.

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