ARNSBERG (dpa-AFX) - An ex-manager of a subsidiary of chip manufacturer Infineon Technologies is standing trial at Arnsberg District Court on charges of embezzling millions of euros in company funds. According to the indictment, as manager of the company based in Warstein, he is alleged to have diverted 7.5 million euros alone via a trust account he set up with several transactions and spent it on his own real estate transactions and his own upscale lifestyle, as a court spokesman said at the start of the trial.

He is alleged to have embezzled millions more, including in the form of loans from his employer, through the purchase of two supplier companies and the establishment of his own holding company. In this second set of charges, a married couple from Düsseldorf is also accused of aiding and abetting the ex-manager. In the opinion of the judges, the two spouses are also suspected of money laundering, according to the court spokesman.

Defendant wants to comment on the allegations during the trial

His client will only comment on the allegations in court as the trial progresses, the lawyer for the accused ex-manager said when asked. The presumption of innocence applies to the three defendants until the legal conclusion of the proceedings.

According to the court spokesperson, the accused manager disclosed his identity to his employer in September 2020. He ultimately had no other choice, a company spokesperson said on request. "The embezzlement would otherwise have been uncovered in a timely manner."

The company specializes in semiconductor technology in the field of power generation and is a joint venture between Infineon and Siemens. It is appearing as a joint plaintiff in the trial and considers itself to be the injured party: "The defendant acted with great criminal energy, among other things by using straw men and forging documents. This was the only way the transactions could have remained undetected for so long," said the spokesperson on request.

14 further hearings are scheduled in the complex white-collar criminal proceedings until mid-February./fld/DP/men