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PARIS (AP) — German carmaker Daimler AG and French conglomerate Lagardere SCA are on trial in a Paris criminal court along with seven current and former Airbus executives accused of involvement in insider trading.
They're suspected of profiting from inside knowledge about delays in the superjumbo A380 jet and other problems at Airbus before they were publicly announced in 2006.
The defendants in court Friday were all shareholders of Airbus' parent company EADS. They sold shares or exercised stock options before the public announcement, which sent EADS shares plunging.
Airbus says the accusations are groundless. France's market regulator cleared Airbus executives, Daimler and Lagardere of wrongdoing after a separate investigation.
An insider trading conviction could result in a prison term of up to two years and heavy fines.
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