Scandal at VW

German prosecutors took Klaus Volkert, the once mighty chief of VW's workers' council, into custody on Tuesday, citing the danger that he would suppress evidence amid a continuing corruption investigation.

The arrest came a week after former VW Personnel Director Peter Hartz was charged with 44 counts of breach of trust.

The scandal centers on whether VW managers and works council members got illegal privileges, including lavish foreign trips and sex parties paid by the company.

Central figure

Volkert has been a central figure in the scandal since it broke some 18 months ago. He was suspected of inciting breach of trust.

Like Hartz, Volkert resigned last year shortly after accusations against 12 VW managers and members of the workers' council had been made public. Prosecutors believe he received illegal bonuses worth 2 million euro ($2.6 million).

According to the prosecutors' office in Braunschweig, near VW headquarters, Volkert hoped to coerce other accused parties at VW -- like former Personnel Manager Klaus-Joachim Gebauer -- into giving false statements and suppressing evidence.

"The Braunschweig prosecutors' office needed to effectively fight against this danger, using all legal means available. That's what we did," the office said in a statement.

Volkert was remanded into custody on Tuesday. His arrest came about on evidence given by Gebauer.

Money laundering, bribery

The VW affair first hit the news in June 2005. Other than Volkert, Hartz and Gebauer, another person allegedly involved is former Skoda personnel chief Helmuth Schuster.

Schuster and Gebauer are said to have demanded bribes and embezzled laundered VW money into their own accounts. Later, news broke about VW-financed pleasure trips and sex parties.