Lying Under Oath

Hans-Jürgen Uhl, who represented the co-governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Bundestag, said on his Web site he was stepping down because he had lied when allegations were made about the role he played the VW scandal.

"I have not told the truth in dealing with the allegations made against me in this context," Uhl said. "As a result, the assurances I made under oath in court examinations carried out in various media were, to a considerable degree, also false."

Uhl, formerly a member of VW's works council, has been indicted on two counts of being an accessory to fraud and five counts of making false statements under oath.

He is to stand trial in the city of Braunschweig in mid-June.

Rocking the corporate world

The VW scandal, which surfaced in June 2005, originally centered on allegations of bribes from potential suppliers and the creation of dummy companies which were used to secure lucrative contracts abroad.

But it quickly widened to include claims that VW paid for so-called pleasure trips for work council members to win their allegiance. This included allegations about flying around high-class prostitutes.

Uhl is accused of taking part at these events in 2001 as a member of VW's works council.

His will be a second trial in the affair which rocked Germany's corporate world. Peter Hartz, a former senior manager at Volkswagen and architect of tough labor-market reforms introduced under former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government, was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of 576,000 euros ($747,000) in January.

Hartz admitted being the initiator of abuse that saw nearly 2 million euros in illegal bonuses paid to the then-head of the company's works council, Klaus Volkert.