Comroad
| ComROAD | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1995 |
| Seat | Unterschleissheim , Germany |
| management | Bodo Schnabel |
| Branch | Telematics |
| Website | www.comroad.com |
The Comroad AG (proper spelling ComROAD AG) was founded by Bodo Schnabel companies for the development and production of telematics systems and navigation computers for vehicles . Comroad AG was one of the top stocks on the Neuer Markt .
At the beginning of 2002 it became public that the company had been doing bogus business on a large scale since 1998 and that around 95 percent of sales were fictitious . Alleged deliveries of software and hardware by a front company called VT Electronics Ltd. in Hong Kong , at the same time 17 sales increases were announced by 2002 . The subsequent price gains of the listed company meant that it was massively overvalued at over a billion euros , even though the economy was in a recession . The auditing company KPMG resigned from their mandate . In April 2002, the CEO Bodo Schnabel was in custody taken.
Economic consequences
At the time of Bodo Schnabel's departure, Comroad had assets of around EUR 26 million in cash , EUR 15 million in investments and EUR 5 million in inventories . Since then, the cash has sunk significantly, the investments and partner agreements could not be held for the most part. As a result of the ComROAD scandal, the share slipped from almost 65 euros on September 27, 2000 to 6 cents. ComROAD AG changed its name to Tracom Holding AG on July 10, 2006 . The shares were only traded on the Hamburg Stock Exchange from 2002 to 2008, as Comroad AG's admission to the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was withdrawn on September 20, 2002. The price was last at around 35 cents in 2007.
Legal consequences
In November 2002 Bodo Schnabel was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Munich District Court I for course fraud , insider trading and commercial fraud . His then- wife Ingrid Schnabel was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence for aiding and abetting .
In February 2005, a settlement agreement was concluded between the Free State of Bavaria , Comroad AG and Bodo Schnabel in order to solve the problem comprehensively and definitively. From September 2004 Bodo Schnabel was able to build a new professional future.
In several judgments before the Munich Regional Court and the Munich Higher Regional Court , the pending lawsuits against Comroad AG and Bodo Schnabel were dismissed.
- On December 14, 2006 (Ref .: 401303/04), the Munich District Court I dismissed the claims of 18 investors.
- The Munich Higher Regional Court dismissed an investor's appeal on January 9, 2007 (Az .: 18 U 3638/06) .
- On May 15, 2007 (Az .: 20 O 23958/04) the Munich Higher Regional Court overturned a judgment of the Munich Regional Court in which Schnabel was sentenced to compensation.
- Bodo Schnabel was sentenced on January 15, 2007 by the fifth civil senate of the Frankfurt am Main district court to pay 750,000 euros to aggrieved investors. On June 4, 2007, the Federal Court of Justice overturned a judgment by the Munich Higher Regional Court in which Comroad AG was sentenced to compensation for damages (II ZR 147/05).
- On September 24, 2007 (II ZR 229/05), the Federal Court of Justice approved an appeal against a judgment of the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court of August 2, 2005, and on January 7, 2008 overturned the judgment in favor of Schnabel.
- On March 3, 2008 (II ZR 310/06) the Federal Court of Justice overturned another judgment of the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court against Schnabel.
Investigative journalism success
The disclosure of the scandal around the Comroad AG is a credit to the then market online - editor Renate Daum , who almost single-handedly uncovering evidence for the non-existence of transactions that allegedly existed after multiple information provided by the company management. She received the Helmut Schmidt Journalist Award 2002 for her research on Comroad AG .
New beginning
After renaming to Tracom Holding AG (2006), the company received the decision to include the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on July 17, 2008. The Tracom share could then be traded again in Frankfurt am Main in addition to Hamburg .
See also
literature
- Renate Daum: Out of Control: How ComRoad & Co. trick Germany's financial system , FinanzBook-Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-89879-031-2
Web links
- Website of the Tracom Holding AG. (No longer available online.) July 2013, archived from the original on July 21, 2013 ; Retrieved on June 19, 2020 (last version that can be found in the internet archive, website has been dead since).
- Annual report of the Tracom Holding from 2006 with a review of the events. (PDF; 70 kB) (No longer available online.) May 16, 2006, archived from the original on January 30, 2012 ; accessed on June 19, 2020 .
- Interview "A strange and strange world" . manager magazine. January 17, 2003. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Comroad exceeds planning for third quarter (handelsblatt.de) accessed on September 9, 2012
- ↑ Confessions in the case of ComRoad fraud (heise.de) accessed on September 9, 2012
- ↑ Comroad wants special test (netzeitung.de) ( Memento from December 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on September 9, 2012
- ↑ Comroad - what's really going on there? (faz.net) Retrieved September 9, 2012
- ↑ Comroad Banned from the stock exchange, Deutsche Börse cleans up. Bodo Schnabel's ex-company has its approval withdrawn (manager-magazin.de) accessed on September 9, 2012
- ↑ Ex-Comroad boss has to pay damages again ( Memento of February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) On: International Business Times of January 15, 2007
- ↑ II ZR 173/05
- ^ Federal Court of Justice BGB § 826; BörsG § 47 Paragraph 2 (lexetius.com) accessed on September 9, 2012
- ^ Federal Court of Justice § 826 BGB; Section 47 (2) BörsG, BGH, judgment of March 3, 2008 - II ZR 310/06 - ComROAD VIII; OLG Frankfurt a. M. (Lexetius.com/2008,657)