HAMM (dpa-AFX) – The Hamm Higher Regional Court has sentenced six former supervisory board members of the Karstadt parent company Arcandor, which went bankrupt in 2009, to a total of 53.6 million euros in damages. They are said to have failed to assert claims for damages against former board members in good time in 2006, as the Hamm Higher Regional Court announced on Wednesday. Two of the six were liable for the total amount of damage determined by the court, the other four for 100,000 euros, said a spokesman. The verdict in the appeal proceedings is not yet final.
The lengthy process involved the sale and subsequent leaseback of five department stores. According to earlier information, the insolvency administrator assumed that the houses were sold to a fund at a price well below their market value and were rented back at inflated conditions. In 2010, the insolvency administrator sued five ex-board members and six ex-supervisory board members of Arcandor for damages of 175 million euros, including the former Arcandor CEO Thomas Middelhoff. They are said not to have asserted any possible claims for damages from the business that was disadvantageous for the company.
In the first instance in 2012, the Essen Regional Court considered the lawsuit against four board members to be justified in relation to one of the five department stores. Otherwise the lawsuit was dismissed. The insolvency administrator, the convicted defendants and an insurance company then appealed.
The Higher Regional Court has now ruled that monitoring the members of the Management Board was part of the duty of the members of the Supervisory Board. They would have violated this obligation with regard to the concluded contracts. “According to the result of the taking of evidence conducted by the Senate, this resulted in damage amounting to 53,625,150.18 euros.”
However, the Senate considers the claims against the members of the Management Board to be unfounded. There was no breach of duty on their part.
A revision was not allowed. On the other hand, a non-admission appeal to the Federal Court of Justice is still possible./tob/DP/stw