The group, Airbus has high Sunday, against the “repeated allegations” of corruption against her, which affect his “reputation”, after the publication of an article in the German magazine Der Spiegel. The latter has stated in its edition of Saturday, that the prosecutor’s office “preparing indictments”, without quoting sources, nor specify who would be referred to a tribunal.
“The article gives the impression that the prosecutor of Munich is preparing an indictment against former and current employees of Airbus and its CEO Tom Enders on the basis of their investigation of the facts of corruption around the sale of combat aircraft Eurofighter to Austria in 2003. This claim is false,” said the group in a press release. “The allegations made repeatedly seriously damage the reputation of the company. Airbus considers this situation as unacceptable and is exploring all possible options to defend its reputation”, he added.
Investigation “soon” buckled
The general prosecutor’s office of Munich questioned on Friday by the AFP indicated that a survey on corruption, carried out in Germany against the aircraft manufacturer Airbus around the sale of combat aircraft Eurofighter to Austria, would “soon” be reached. Parallel to the procedures performed in Vienna, France and the United Kingdom, the justice bavarian “survey since 2012” against the French-German group and its investigation “is nearing completion”, according to Hildegard Bäumler-Hösl, magistrate of the general prosecutor’s office.
“We will decide in the wake,” that is, a non-place, or to the holding of a trial, she said, but “for the time being we have little evidence of corruption,” added the same source.
“Austria was not deceived”
In the framework of the complaint filed in February by the austrian government against the group’s aerospace, Airbus had indicated on September 18, having given to the public prosecutor in Vienna a legal opinion stating its view that “Austria has not been deceived about the ability of delivery and the cost of compensation” of this contract, which dates back to 2003. The group was denounced by the accusations made against him by the austrian minister of Defence, Hans Peter Doskozil.
The executive president of Airbus, Tom Enders, said Friday in an e-mail to the group’s employees that he was in significant penalties for the business as a result of various investigations in progress.
