A former Volkswagen labour leader and Social Democrat member of parliament was found guilty on Thursday of perjury by denying he paid for prostitutes with company funds.
Hans-Juergen Uhl confessed to the prosecutor's charges and was found guilty on five counts of perjury and two counts of aiding and abetting fraud. He must pay 39,200 euros ($52,120) in fines, the court in VW's home town of Wolfsburg ruled.
His case was one of several involving high-ranking VW managers and labour leaders accused of conspiring to bilk the company of funds to pay for elaborate sex trips as part of a institutionalised system of bribery put in place under VW's former personnel boss, Peter Hartz.
Hartz in January got a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of 576,000 euros. In falsifying sworn statements under oath Uhl said he was "trying to prevent press reports" about the affair from being published.