major fraud in the classic porsche business in Germany

[911MRP]

Seem to recall there were allegations about an official in the regional vehicle office ? If so how did that turn out ? Was it alleged that aspect was somehow related to this current Aachen case or was it a completely separate matter?

Steve

[rhegra]

The allegations that revolve around the papers and approvals are admitted in the Aachen case. These were made with the knowledge of the defendant, even though he was not there himself. Two other defendants have to answer in other proceedings because of the counterfeits that were allegedly manufactured in exchange for appropriate compensation in the Düren road traffic office.

[HughH]

So are they concentrating on counterfeiting the paperwork associated with the cars rather than the cars themselves? or is this only in connection to the TUV official?
A bit like going after Al Capone on tax charges

[911MRP]

The allegations that revolve around the papers and approvals are admitted in the Aachen case. These were made with the knowledge of the defendant, even though he was not there himself. Two other defendants have to answer in other proceedings because of the counterfeits that were allegedly manufactured in exchange for appropriate compensation in the Düren road traffic office.

I’m not clear from this if and how any alleged links between these things will affect the other ? While all are innocent until proven guilty might the result in the “other proceedings” impact in the three defendants in the ongoing Aachen case ?

[haul]

yes, please, always provide a link to the newspaper the infos are in…
proper research based understandable quotation…

thank you

[rhegra]

the full text of an article from the Aachener Zeitung published yesterday: (translation by Google)
The many lives of a legendary racing car
The legendary Porsche 917-043, nicknamed “Hippie”, was destroyed in an accident. Nevertheless, it still exists. Multiple. Apparently all originals. This is one of the strange stories from the Aachen classic car trial.
It's November 13, 1970. A Friday, of all days. Jo Siffert races around the Hockenheimring in a Porsche 917. Test drive. But it ends in a serious accident for the Swiss racing driver.
Fastest car of all time
The car is in ruins on the track. The vehicle with chassis number 043 ceases to exist. Siffert survives this accident and takes a body part from the scene with him, as a souvenir. He writes the date on it and signs it. After all, it wasn't just any racing car. And not just any old 917, which is still considered the fastest car of all time.
Rather, it was the one with the nickname “Hippie”, which was given to it because of its rather hippie-like paint job. And the one who took second place in the 24-hour classic in Le Mans a few months earlier - with Willy Kauhsen from Aachen and his partner Gérard Larrousse at the wheel.
54 years later, this legend of the asphalt is once again the focus. This time not on the racetrack, but in the courtroom. The curious story of this Porsche 917-043 is part of the trial surrounding the alleged forgery of such racing legends. And the million-dollar business with it.
It's about millions.
The story will be told this morning by Goran Bronisch. He is not a racing driver, but a lawyer who represents the main defendant in this case before the 1st Large Commercial Criminal Chamber headed by judge Matthias Quarch.
The defendant, a 53-year-old Aachen expert for racing vehicles in general and Porsche cars in particular, is said to have recreated a number of vehicles and then sold them for a profit as originals.
It's about many millions of euros. At least that's what the public prosecutor's office sees in its indictment in almost two dozen cases. It also involves forging the relevant vehicle documents and registrations. The story of 917-043 is one of these cases. The last one that Bronisch recapitulates that day. He does this on behalf of his client. It takes hours to go through the accused cases. It is a “Who’s Who” of the most famous racing cars. Porsche 911 R and RS and RSR, Porsche 908, Porsche 917, Ford GT 40 and so on.
Back in 1970. The “hippie” pile of metal is dismantled after the accident, that’s how Bronisch continues the story. Porsche then installed some parts in other racing cars. The rest is scrapped.
Scrap is resold. But that doesn't mean, as the defense attorney explains, that they end up in a scrap press. Rather, they are resold. And so enter the “restoration cycle”. And so begins what is now astonishing in court. There is the 917-043 again. Not just once, not just twice. “I alone know of three 917-043s, all of which claim to be the original,” says Bronisch. According to the motto: Someone had a few original parts and made a supposed “original” out of them and other parts.
The situation is similar in the Aachen case. The defendant is said to have owned some of the “scrap” from back then. A few years ago, according to the defendant, Didier C., an entrepreneur from Switzerland and a racing driver himself, approached the man from Aachen. And suggests resurrecting the Porsche 917-043. In order to sell it later for a profit.
You start the project. At the end there is actually a “hippie” in the garage in an industrial area in Aachen. The new construction cost 2.5 million euros, more than expected. But the defendant soon has a buyer on hand who wants to pay around five million euros. Although, according to lawyer Bronisch, he knew that it was not the original, but a replica. The Aachen resident thinks the price is okay; after all, it's a profit of over 100 percent. But that's not enough for Didier C., he wanted at least ten million euros.
So they try to go through the agent Claudio R. But he is startled when he hears what car it is. Because he is currently in the process of presenting, together with the Brazilian oil baron P., another “original” 917-043 to the interested world public as a sensational find that eked out an existence in a barn.
Of course, it wouldn’t be so good if another “original” came onto the market right now. As the story progresses, it goes back and forth. First, a person from Monaco comes into play who wants to pay five million euros, also in the knowledge that the vehicle from Aachen has never competed in a race.
An oil baron is also involved
They even want to change the paint and the chassis number. Then the oil baron enters the stage again, who also owns other ultra-valuable racing cars such as a Porsche 911R from the 1960s, which is valued at around five or six million euros. There should be an exchange of the 911 and another 917 for the “Aachen Hippie”. This deal also doesn't go through.
For the Aachen car manufacturer, the story, which he says he no longer notices, ends at this point. In the meantime there have been extensive investigations and house searches.
The 53-year-old is arrested and taken into custody, where he spends four months. In a city in a racing cockpit, he is now locked in his cell for 23 hours a day, with an hour of walking in the yard, as he said on the day before the trial. When he testifies about himself and his CV, he doesn't mention this time.
Judge Susanne Sommer specifically asks about it, the defendant seems surprised. These months were “traumatic,” he says, and reports of a suicide in his neighboring cell and of another inmate who died of a heart attack. As an epilepsy sufferer, he asked himself what would happen if he had a seizure in his cell at night.
“It was a very difficult time that I haven't come to terms with yet,” he says, who also includes a Porsche expert and former Le Mans winner on various charges, as well as a doctor from Düsseldorf.
The next day it is his lawyer's turn to respond to the public prosecutor's allegations. The conclusion of these explanations is usually something like the story about the legendary “hippie”. Namely, that the buyers or clients were aware of the fact that the vehicles were not the originals.
A letter to the judge
One of them even sent Judge Matthias Quarch a long letter in which he emphasized that he never felt cheated by the defendant. He is expected to testify on Wednesday. However, the allegations that revolve around the papers and approvals are admitted. These were made with the knowledge of the defendant, even though he was not there himself. Two other defendants have to answer in other proceedings because of the counterfeits that were allegedly manufactured in exchange for appropriate compensation in the Düren road traffic office.
And back to the history of the “hippie”. One of these was shown as an original at a trade fair in 2020. The Aachen defendant thinks it could well be the one he built. Which would make it not an original. And there is still a 917-043 with the suffix “P” on the race tracks.
He was piloted by people we have already met in this story. For example, in the summer of 2023 at the site of his greatest successes at the “Le Mans Classics”. At the wheel: the broker R. and the oil baron P.. And Gérard Larrousse, now 83 years old. At least it's an original.

[911MRP]

Thanks. Sheds a bit more light on the types of Porsches involved in the allegations.

“However, the allegations that revolve around the papers and approvals are admitted” the phrasing is rather vague and ambiguous, (possibly in part due to the google translation to English).

Steve

[HughH]

Steve
I think in that context it is the documents and evidence from another trial (maybe regarding the counterfeiting of the documents and the events at the TUV office) that has been "admitted as evidence" in this trial

[911MRP]

Indeed … that’s why I said vague and ambiguous in the translation due to “admitted” having several meanings in English. I’ve modified my post as think your view is more likely — although still not totally clear.

Including link to or pasting of the German original along with pasting the google translation can help as native or fluent German speakers might see the nuance that google translate doesn't. Or perhaps different tools run against original might give different output.

I haven’t found a way to access the German original reporting from a web search so I appreciate what is getting posted here to keep us updated. With Porsche OEM being involved as co-plaintiff it’s potentially a big story but curiously not seen it being reported currently in international media? Perhaps I’m just using wrong search terms or missing it?

Steve

[StephenAcworth]

Steve, here is a link to the original article but it is behind a paywall:

https://www.aachener-zeitung.de/loka...s/8915347.html

Indeed … that’s why I said vague and ambiguous in the translation due to “admitted” having several meanings in English. I’ve modified my post as think your view is more likely — although still not totally clear.

Including link to or pasting of the German original along with pasting the google translation can help as native or fluent German speakers might see the nuance that google translate doesn't. Or perhaps different tools run against original might give different output.

I haven’t found a way to access the German original reporting from a web search so I appreciate what is getting posted here to keep us updated. With Porsche OEM being involved as co-plaintiff it’s potentially a big story but curiously not seen it being reported currently in international media? Perhaps I’m just using wrong search terms or missing it?

Steve