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MAN beats Freightliner in High Court
Page 18
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High Court judgment has gone n MAN's favour: it now hopes for
3 £300m pay-out from =reightliner. Sally Nash reports.
7REIGHTLINER, PART of )aimlerChrysler, could be forced o pay more than £300m to the 3erman truck builder MAN allowing a High Court ruling over raud liability.
The legal battle between MAN nd DaimlerChrysler reached a limax last week when Lord ustice Moore-Bick found that Freightliner was liable for fraud carried out by ERF's former financial director Stephen Ellis, who overstated the Sandbach firm's profits. Its VAT returns were also falsified.
MAN told the court that the fraud cost it £300m.
ERF, which had been owned by Canada's Western Star — later taken over by Freightliner — was sold to MAN in 2000.
MAN chairman Ha' kanSamuelsson says: "This is an important step and reflects the view which MAN has always taken: we were defrauded into buying this company and Freightliner has an obligation to compensate us for that fraud."
However, Freightliner has always insisted that Western Star was as much a victim of the fraud as MAN.The company, which does not believe it is liable for MAN's loss, plans to appeal against the High Court's decision.
But a source close to MAN told CM that the company remains optimistic about receiving "adequate compensation".