Porsche office raided on alleged manipulation of VW shares in 2008

German prosecutors, armed with judicial search warrants, raided the administrative headquarters of luxury carmaker Porsche in Stuttgart, Germany, yesterday, on suspicion of market manipulation of Volkswagen (VW) shares in 2008 as part of its failed four-year attempt to acquire the carmaker.

Porsche confirmed yesterday that officials from the public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart raided and searched the office, seizing numerous business documents in the process.

In a statement Porsche said, ''According to information provided by the public prosecutor's office in charge of investigations, there is a suspicion of breaching the publication duty as prescribed by the German Stock Corporation Act and furthermore of market manipulation.''

''Porsche is rejecting these allegations. The company is cooperating in the efforts of the public prosecutor's office and is offering investigating officials its full support in order to clarify the issue as quickly as possible, it added.

German prosecutors launched an investigation into the alleged stock manipulation by Porsche after it received a complaint from Germany's financial regulator BaFin.

In a continuing probe, which started in October 2008, based on media reports of manipulation of VW shares by Porsche, BaFin had started an investigation to find out whether Porsche had misled and manipulated the markets in its attempt to takeover its larger rival VW.