Porsche Charges Eavesdropping on CEO Via a Baby Monitor
April 28, 2008

The Porsche-Volkswagen saga is becoming more bizarre every day; the latest chapter includes charges of eavesdropping via a baby monitor.

Porsche confirmed Sunday night that it has filed a criminal complaint with authorities regarding a suspected attempt to eavesdrop on CEO Wendelin Wiedeking. A report by the German weekly Der Spiegel, picked up by the Wall Street Journal Monday, said the complaint came after the microphone of a baby monitoring device was discovered behind a sofa in a hotel suite a day before last year's meeting of the supervisory board of Volkswagen.

Porsche holds 31 percent of the shares of Volkswagen and is seeking a majority stake.

Police in Lower Saxony confirmed to the Associated Press they are investigating the complaint but gave no details. The Lower Saxony government is the second largest shareholder in Volkswagen after Porsche.

Porsche is locked in a battle with both VW and Lower Saxony to change a rule under which "significant decisions" require the approval of shareholders representing 80 percent of Volkswagen's stock, plus one share. Not wanting to see the rule changed, Lower Saxony, with 20.1 percent of Volkswagen's stock, has a right to block major decisions at VW.

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