Deutsche Post chief to quit amid probe

Berlin: Klaus Zumwinkel will resign as chief executive of German mail and logistics group Deutsche Post, the company said on Friday, as a tax-dodging probe threatened to ensnare more rich Germans.

The 64-year-old, a pillar of Germany's corporate establishment who has led Deutsche Post for 18 years, came under pressure to go after prosecutors said they suspected him of dodging about $1.5 million in taxes by transferring money to tax haven Liechtenstein.

"In the interest of the company he will resign" tomorrow, Deutsche Post said in a statement on its website. "The executive committee respects this decision and proposes to the supervisory board to accept."

Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told reporters Zumwinkel had admitted evading taxes. A spokes-man for his ministry told a news conference that any others who thought they could be implicated in the probe should consider turning themselves in.

"I couldn't imagine that someone who had confirmed the fact of tax evasion, who had admitted it, would remain in such important company functions," Steinbrueck said.

Deutsche Telekom said Zumwinkel would also resign his position there, where he was supervisory board chairman.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said his departure from Deutsche Post was unavoidable, while Steinbrueck said the probe had caused considerable "moral damage". The state is Deutsche Post's biggest shareholder with a 31 per cent stake. Zumwinkel could not be reached for comment.

However, commenting on his plans to resign as Deutsche Post chief, he told the newspaper Bild: "I wanted to usher in a new era, but with a different changeover than has happened now."

Zumwinkel said he would work closely with the authorities, telling Bild: "I will take an active role in clarifying the questions about my private finances."

Hundreds more rich and prominent Germans faced a visit from police as part of the sweeping probe into offshore accounts. More than 100 tax-dodging suspects are likely to be raided by tomorrow, sources close to the investigation said, adding that about 1,000 people were under suspicion.

The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said no other board members of firms listed in the DAX, Germany's leading share index, were targeted.

Liechtenstein-based LGT bank, controlled by the princely family in the tiny Alpine principality, said some secret data for clients of its LGT Treuhand AG trust had been passed on to outsiders after a former employee stole the files six years ago.

It said it could not confirm whether these files were linked to the current probe in Germany, and stressed that the thefts did not affect customers at parent LGT Bank or clients that did business with LGT Treuhand from 2003.