The Volkswagen Group has allegedly spied on the Bosnian supplier Prevent and its management, the German weekly “Bild am Sonntag” said. Some of the people that were allegedly spied on were Prevent's owner Nijaz Hastor and members of his family.

“All the procedures were conducted in a transparent manner. All the investigations concerning the supplier, Prevent, were conducted in accordance with the legal procedures,” the Volkswagen management told “Bild am Sonntag,” commenting on the alleged spying on the Hastor family and Prevent Company management.  

“Bild am Sonntag” weekly also said that the Hogan Lovells law firm stated that the alleged spying began in 2017, when a Berlin based a security and inteligence company was hired to provide information on a total of 37 persons.  

According to Prevent's statement to N1, they are shocked by the information of alleged espionage and they will seek legal protection.  

“If these claims are confirmed, we expect the new Volkswagen management board to distance themselves from such business practices in the future. It is in the interest of our employees and partners that this issue be resolved,” Prevent Group told N1.

The Volkswagen Group has also appointed a new management board which should deal with the affair.  

Back in 2016, Prevent ceased the delivery of parts for the Volkswagen, stopping the production of the Volkswagen's Golf passenger vehicle. Later that year, negotiations between the car-parts suppliers Car Trim and ES Automobilguss continued with the Volkswagen. Even though the dispute was resolved shortly after, the Volkswagen group suffered losses measured in millions of Euros.