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DIESELGATE may have negatively affected the value of your stock!

Research of the US Department of Justice suggests that former Porsche Automobil Holding SE CEO Martin Winternkorn had actual knowledge of violations of applicable clean air standards by cars manufactured by the Porsche SE group of companies at the latest in early 2014. There are further indications suggesting knowledge of these manipulations as early as in November 2009, when Winterkorn became CEO of Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Despite the capability to substantially influence the stock price of Porsche Automobil Holding SE shares, relevant information had not been made public. The main asset of Porsche Automobil Holding SE is shares in Volkswagen AG. The board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE was therefore obligated to inform its shareholders truthfully and without delay.

WE PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!

Should you have been a shareholder in Porsche Automobil Holding SE prior to 18 September 2015, please contact us now. You may be entitled to substantial compensation.

Dear shareholders of Porsche Automobil Holding SE,

one of the largest scandals in economic history – a scandal commonly referred to as ‘Dieselgate’ – has severely hit the trust in German businesses and core values. On 14 September 2015, a press release of the US environmental agency EPA took the general public by surprise announcing deceptive practices of the Volkswagen group of companies. The size and effects of those e practices showcase unprecedented levels of criminal energy on behalf of those involved and responsible for the process. More than 11 million cars equipped with defeat devices around the globe expose a manifest disregard of Porsche SE and Volkswagen for applicable laws and some minimum environmental and economic standards established by lawmakers and competent agencies. The degree of disregard displayed by Porsche and Volkswagen had heretofore had been considered to be unconceivable for a German business.

EPA’s 14 September 2015 announcement also hit the shareholders of Porsche Automobil Holding SE – a company with essentially just one main asset, i.e., its 52% plus stake in the voting stock of Volkswagen AG – by surprise. The fact that the price of also the Porsche stock would dramatically fall as a result of the deceptive practices of the Volkswagen group of companies now known as ‘Dieselgate’ was at no point in time communicated to the Porsche shareholders by Porsche’s management board although it was quite clear that such information would have negatively affected also the stock of Porsche Automobil Holding SE.

On 19 July 2016, the Attorneys General of the US States New York, Massachusetts and Maryland filed complaints against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and Porsche Cars of North America, Inc. essentially based upon evidence obtained from documents produced by the defendants, the testimony of defendant’s current and former employees and information and documents obtained from third party sources through independent investigatory efforts. The Attorneys General come to the conclusion that six generations of so called ‘defeat devices’ had been developed with – at a minimum – the knowledge of Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG from January 2007 through end of September 2015 and CEO of Porsche Automobil Holding SE from November 2009 through October 2015. The ‘defeat devices’ are illegal cycle beating software that suggests compliance with applicable environmental laws to authorities and consumers during laboratory testing cycles while in real life circumstances admissible levels are exceeded by up to as much as 40 times.

Volkswagen has admitted all this. At a September 2015 event to promote the 2016 Passat, Michael Horn, then President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., told the audience „[l]et’s be clear about this. Our company was dishonest with the EPA and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you, and, in my German words, we have totally screwed up.” A few weeks later, in prepared testimony before the [US] House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on 8 October 2015 Horn confirmed that emissions in [Volkswagen’s] four cylinder diesel vehicles from model years 2009 – 2015 contained a ‘defeat device’ in the form of hidden software that could recognize whether a vehicle was being operated in a test laboratory or on the road. The software made those vehicles emit higher levels of nitrogen oxides when the vehicles were driven in actual road use than during laboratory testing.

The decision to install defeat devices was not, however, made by a “couple of software engineers”. Nor was it confined to the 2 liter 4 cylinder diesel engines. Rather, it was the result of a willful and systematic scheme of cheating. This scheme, which extended over nearly a decade, was perpetrated by Volkswagen AG and its Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche subsidiaries, through their executives, employees and officers (see Complaint of the State of New York, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Dr. Ing. hc. F. Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America, Inc. dated 19 July 2016, p. 2, para 5).

Martin Winterkorn was CEO of Porsche Automobil Holding SE since 25 November 2009 and CEO of Volkswagen AG since 1 January 2007. His failure to disclose stock price relevant information relating to Dieselgate also to the shareholders of Porsche Automobil Holding SE has caused substantial harm to Porsche shareholders. Starting Tuesday, 15 September 2015, the stock price of Porsche Automobil Holding SE plummeted and fell from EUR 63.2 that day to EUR 35.8 on Thursday, 1 October 2015.

Martin Winterkorn is not the only person with a dual role at both Porsche Automobil Holding SE and Volkswagen AG. Wolfgang Porsche, Ferdinand Oliver Porsche, Hans-Dieter Pötsch, Manfred Döss and others are also carrying out important functions at both entities and have participated in or prepared the meetings of the de facto most powerful body within the whole Porsche SE/ Volkswagen group, the Shareholders’ Committee of Porsche Automobil Holding SE.

Any damages you have suffered as a shareholder of Porsche Automobil Holding SE in the course of Dieselgate may give you an entitlement to substantial compensation. Compensation payments in this context will – contrary to lawsuits filed against Volkswagen AG – not negatively affect the huge number of innocent workers employed by the operative Volkswagen businesses who depend on their paychecks to make a living. Porsche Automobil Holding SE is a financial holding company essentially bundling the joint assets of Austrian families Porsche and Piech through their ownership of 100% of the voting stock of the business. Please use the contact form to find out more and make a first step towards getting compensated for the damages suffered by you. The complaints of the US DOJ (Department of Justice) and the Attorneys General of the US States of New York, Massachusetts and Maryland are available for download on this website.

Verbraucherzentrale für Kapitalanleger e.V.

Dr. Martin Weimann, Attorney at Law (Germany)

Download complaint of the US Department of Justice dated 4 January 2016: [link] [pdf]

Download complaint of the State of New York dated 19 July 2016: [link] [pdf]

Download complaint of the State of Massachusetts dated 19 July 2016: [link] [pdf]

Download complaint of the State of Maryland dated 19 July 2016: [link] [pdf]

Write to [email-obfuscate email=“info@vzfk.de“] and provide the following informations:

  • Number of Shares = Number of shares in Porsche Automobil Holding SE held prior to 18 September 2015.
  • Provide me = Please provide me with information on my rights as a shareholder in Porsche Automobil Holding SE damaged by Dieselgate and send me Power of Attorney as required to legally pursue any claims I/we may have as a result thereof.