Ingo K. made a steep career at BMW and fell deeply. The former head of department is said to have received almost three million euros in bribes from two suppliers to the Munich car manufacturer between 2015 and 2017. In return, the 52-year-old, who has had to answer before the Munich I Regional Court for bribery and breach of trust since Friday, preferred the two companies when placing orders, according to the prosecutor’s office. Ingo K. is confessed. He faces a prison sentence of between five and six years.
The scam the defendant used is based on insider knowledge. According to the public prosecutor’s indictment, the electronics in the vehicles allegedly often caused problems that BMW was not able to secure itself during the development phase. The group had to repeatedly buy back certain vehicles from the market. To ensure that BMW dealers did not notice that BMW AG was taking back vehicles with a specific defect, the cars in question were “concealed”, ie bought by apparently normal customers.
Due to his position, Ingo K. was able to use this supposedly “usual” procedure for himself. According to the investigation, from 2015 he offered two suppliers to transfer money to him for “covert vehicle purchases”. The companies, as listed suppliers of BMW, should charge the car manufacturer for these amounts as part of future orders. In fact, there was not a single “covert vehicle purchase” by Ingo K. The former head of department used the money he received for himself.
The financial authorities have uncovered the scam
In return for the payments, K. supported the two companies as part of the award of orders from the BMW group. This led, among other things, to the fact that he informed them of details even before an official tender, so that they could prepare earlier than other bidders. The mutual business ran like clockwork. Actually “it should stay at once,” said Ingo K. during his interrogation of judge Andrea Wagner. “But it went well and became a kind of routine.”
The swindle about alleged “covert vehicle purchases” by the tax authorities has been exposed. Ingo P. lost his job at BMW. Originally, he only wanted to use the bribes to finance the construction of his house. But it did not stop. He later used the bribes to finance vacations and car purchases. “You made life nice for yourself with three million,” Judge Wagener asked. Ingo K. answered with a short “yes”. The money is now gone, his house has been foreclosed on.
A verdict in the trial is expected in early January.