ACTIONS CORNER
The OLG Tribunal in Munich, the court appointed to rule on the claim for damages between Deutsche Bank and Leo Kirch has heard Jürgen Fitchen steadfastly deny any intent to mislead. On the contrary, Fitchen claims that he has not “the faintest idea” what the plaintiff’s case is all about. From this stance, the bank’s former Co-CEO went on to refute the magistrates’ allegations that he had made inconclusive declarations in order for Kirch’s application to be rejected, but also to counter the accusation of having done nothing to prevent misleading testimony about the bank being given in the court. The proceedings that hinge on the motives that led former Deutsche Bank chief Rolf Breuer to cast doubt on the creditworthiness of his client Leo Kirch in a television interview in 2002 has been dragging on for over ten years.
Salzgitter is again in the spotlight of police investigation. Braunschweig magistrates have announced that former executives of Salzgitter subsidiary Mannesmann Großrohr, are being investigated for suspected corruption. In a note dated May 13, the magistrates stated that on March 10, police raided company premises in Lower Saxony, Switzerland and Austria. Allegations centre on illicit transfers of funds totalling several hundred thousand Euros. The full picture is still unclear but investigators are hoping to find the answers in the extensive paperwork and documentation seized during the raids.
The so-called “railtrack trust” legal proceedings being heard by the Bochum court have got off to a flying start with a series of significant confessions. All the accused had reached upper management echelons of Voestalpine and Thyssen Krupp. It seems that for over 10 years the 14 iron and steel executives stipulated price fixing agreements for rail track sales to Deutsche Bahn. Seven of the accused are being cooperative but the other seven are refusing to talk or are denying involvement. The system was apparently one of the upshots of the dominating position in the market that the Essen-based steel group occupied. The magistrates have estimated the extent of the claims in excess of 100 million Euros.