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In addition to the two companies, which were
shareholders in EADS, seven current or former EADS and Airbus
executives were ordered to stand trial. They include John Leahy,
the current Airbus chief operating officer, and Noel Forgeard,
the former co-CEO, Paris prosecutor spokeswoman Agnes
Thibault-Lecuivre said. At the heart of the investigation is what executives and board
members knew about profit-damaging technical problems with the
A380 superjumbo and mid-range A350 aircraft when they sold
shares or exercised stock options worth millions in 2005 and
2006. When the A380 problems were made public in June 2006, EADS
shares plunged 26 percent in one day and the company sank into
months of management troubles. Technical problems were discussed at meetings Feb. 17 and March
1, 2006 — before the major share sales. In 2009, France's market regulator, the AMF, cleared Lagardere
and Daimler as well as about 10 EADS or Airbus officials in a
separate inquiry — a decision both Lagardere and EADS recalled
in statements Monday. The regulator ruled that knowledge of the aircrafts' technical
problems couldn't be considered "privileged information," that
is "precise information that could have a notable influence on
the share price of corresponding financial instruments." Forgeard also has said he is innocent. Daimler confirmed the
charges had been filed, but declined to comment further. The inquiry by the Paris prosecutor was separate from that of the market regulator. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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