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Willi Betz finally faces 560 charges
Page 6
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The controversial international haulage firm's trial has now begun in earnest following a couple of false starts. Dylan Gray reports.
NO LESS THAN 560 charges have been issued.71 hearings have been scheduled and the case can be traced back to police raids as far back as 2001. German haulage giant Willi Betz has finally begun its court battle against accusations of bribery. fraud and illegal vehicle registrations in Stuttgart.
Betz CEO Thomas Betz. his father Willi and three of their colleagues are in the spotlight, alongside the vice-president of BAG —the German equivalent of Vosa.
Some of the charges concern bribes of millions of Euros allegedly paid to officials from various Eastern European countries in order to acquire licences for branch offices in their countries.
In particular. prosecutors accuse Thomas Betz of paying €4.5m for permits in Georgia andAzerbaijan between 1998 and 2003, which resulted in a massive €183m boost to its gross profit.
Betz senior is expected to be tried at a later date due to ill health brought about by gunshot wounds he suffered a decade ago. The company, along with sister company Somat, is also accused of illegally employing 900 Bulgarian drivers and saving €19.6m in social security payments. And it is alleged that Betz illegally registered vehicles abroad in order to dodge €7.5m in taxes.
BAG vice-president Krelenhop is accused of being an "illegal advisory assistant". according to the Public Prosecutor's Office. He allegedly received a car and travel expenses for his trouble, but was suspended from BAG when the allegations first came to light (CM 10 June 2004).
The trial was cut short on the first day after one of the accused, from Georgia, was unable to get a visa in time. The trial stalled again when a petition against one of the jurors was lodged on the grounds of partiality. This was turned down by the judge.
Thomas Betz says he will make a statement after all the accusations have been presented by the court he intends to prove that the drivers were legally employed by Somat and expects to clear his name and that of his company.
Willi Betz was founded in 1945 and has grown to an organisation employing 7,750 people with a turnover of €720m.
The group now has branches in 25 countries, with a particularly strong presence in Bulgaria.