In Paris, former Airbus VP Olivier Andries, suspected of profiting from inside information about aircraft production delays, has been charged with insider trading, a legal official said Tuesday. EasyBourse reports that Andries, who denies wrongdoing, was charged Friday and released on bail of EUR130,000. The charges against Andries are the latest development in a probe focusing on more than a dozen current and former executives of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. NV. EADS is the is the parent company of Airbus.
According to EasyBourse, investigators reportedly “suspect Andries of having sold EADS stock before problems emerged with the Airbus A380 superjumbo in June 2006. Reports of delivery delays caused shares in EADS to plunge on the stock market. France’s AMF market watchdog said in a report that Andries sold 50,600 EADS stock-options in March 2006 for EUR610,960.”
