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Munich prosecutors are pursuing criminal allegations against
current and former Deutsche Bank executives in the wake of a
civil suit brought by the heirs of deceased media magnate Leo
Kirch.
Prosecutors have accused the executives of misleading the court
about the bank's role in connection with the collapse of the
Kirch media empire in 2002.
They want to establish whether Deutsche Bank sought a mandate to
restructure and sell parts of the Kirch empire and now want to
question executives at rival media companies, prosecutors said
on Friday.
Axel Springer declined to comment.
Defense lawyers have until Sept. 22 to respond to the request,
after which the court will decide whether to summon the
additional witnesses.
Leo Kirch, who died in 2011, blamed former Deutsche Bank
chairman Rolf Breuer for triggering his group's downfall by
questioning its creditworthiness in a 2002 television interview.
Deutsche Bank and former board members deny wrongdoing.
The accusation set off one of Germany's most acrimonious
corporate disputes. Deutsche Bank settled a civil suit in
February 2014 in a deal costing about 925 million euros ($1.04
billion).
(Reporting by Irene Preisinger; Additional reporting by Klaus
Lauer in Berlin; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Georgina
Prodhan)
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