New Payola At Volkswagen?
Volkswagen had unannounced visitors last week. German police raided eight offices in four German cities to secure evidence in a big corruption scandal, the Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports. According to the paper, managers of Deutsche Telekom had attempted to land a several hundred million Euro contract from Volkswagen by extending the sponsorship contract for the Wolfsburg soccer club VFL Wolfsburg.
The German communications giant Deutsche Telekom was born out of the privatization of the communications sector of the German post office Deutsche Bundespost.
The Wolfsburg soccer club is owned by Volkswagen. In 2009, the club was German champion. Currently, the club is trying to avoid relegation to the second league.
The public prosecutor is investigating two former managers and a consultant of the Telekom subsidiary T-Systems and against two members of Volkswagen Purchasing.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Cue the line of venting wankers who had electric troubles or timing-chain troubles with their 2002 Passats.
So whats going on here?