Maybe, maybe not. On the most basic question-did Lopez & Co. leave GM with more than they should have? The circumstantial evidence seems overwhelming. German authorities have uncovered evidence of document shredding by Lopez aides, and have hauled thousands of files out of private apartments and VW headquarters. But answering the bigger question-whether and how much VW profited from GM’s prized papers-could take months of boring testimony from economists. Says Furman Selz analyst Maryann Keller: “There’s no one number you can point to.”
Lopez’s legal troubles don’t end in civil court. Investigators in the United States and Germany are still pursuing criminal investigations, and a German newspaper reported last week that Lopez will be indicted by July. Lopez, whose skill at squeezing money from suppliers earned him the nickname “The Grand Inquisitor,” is busy designing a revolutionary Brazilian truck plant. Barring a dismissal or settlement, the world may soon get to see how he handles an inquisition himself.
