Schröder adviser in 'bribes' scandal claim
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
Published: 08 July 2005
The chief architect of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's economic reform programme is facing fresh charges of involvement in a bribery and prostitution scandal at the car giant Volkswagen.
Peter Hartz, a VW executive and the man behind the German government's Agenda 2010 reforms, is alleged to have approved "expansive" expenses for works council "pleasure trips" to try to bribe employees into accepting VW policies.
The allegations, the latest in a series of corruption charges to be levelled against Europe's biggest car maker, were made yesterday by an unnamed "VW manager" to the German language edition of the Financial Times.
The manager told the newspaper Mr Hartz had approved the expenses and that the practice had infringed company rules because no attempt had been made to establish what the cash was being spent on.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article297628.ece