Volkswagen Ousts 7 Executives

Volkswagen, the giant West German car maker, fired its chief foreign exchange trader today and removed six other top financial officials after revelations of the loss of $258 million through possibly fraudulent foreign exchange deals.

Meanwhile, the Federal Criminal Office in Wiesbaden said its fraud investigators will join the investigation of Volkswagen’s foreign exchange deals. The $258-million loss, discovered by company auditors, is believed to have taken place between 1984 and 1986. It surpassed Volkswagen’s entire 1985 profit.