Volvo CEO to pay charity to settle MAN bribery probe

VOLVO Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson will settle a German probe into corruption claims linked to his tenure as MAN’s CEO by paying ¤500,000 to charity.

“I would have preferred to go through with the trial as I don’t have any doubt about my innocence,” Mr Samuelsson said yesterday. “But this wouldn’t have been compatible with my role as Volvo CEO and I want to leave Germany with passably positive impressions,” he said.

The investigation was opened last September in Munich after the former head of MAN’s audit department testified in a related trial that he had informed Mr Samuelsson in a 2006 meeting about “possible corrupt practices” regarding business in Slovenia.

MAN, Europe’s third-largest truck maker, agreed to pay ¤150m in 2009 to resolve an inquiry into possible bribes paid by its truck and turbo units.

Investigators raided 59 company sites and seven private homes looking into alle- gations of illegal conduct from 2002 to 2009. The inquiry yielded several indictments against employees and managers.

“I have an agreement that the case will be closed with a payment of ¤500,000 to social institutions,” Mr Samuelsson said.

Thomas Steinkraus-Koch, a spokesman for the prosecutors, confirmed the talks with Mr Samuelsson to pay the money to charity. The settlement would be final only once the payment had been made, he said.

Mr Samuelsson, a Swede, stepped down as MAN CEO in November 2009 after more than four years in the position and nine years with the company. During his tenure as CEO, the truck maker reported a record profit. Mr Samuelsson was set to receive severance pay of €7.23m, according to the Munich-based company’s 2009 annual report.

He became Volvo CEO last October to replace Stefan Jacoby. Mr Samuelsson had joined Volvo’s board in 2010 when Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group purchased Volvo from Ford Motor for $1.8bn.