Postchef Klaus Zumwinkel wird abgeführt

[Rock_On]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGvhhx-ly4M

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...&refer=germany

Deutsche Post Chief Zumwinkel to Quit After Tax Probe (Update4)

By Chad Thomas



Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Post AG Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel will quit after 18 years in charge of Europe's biggest postal service as prosecutors investigate him for tax evasion.
German authorities said yesterday they are probing Zumwinkel, 64, for possibly evading 1 million euros ($1.5 million) in taxes by transferring money to Liechtenstein. The company, based in Bonn, didn't name a successor. Zumwinkel's attorney Hanns Feigen declined to comment.
Zumwinkel's departure came after an investigation by prosecutors in Cologne, Dusseldorf and Bochum that may spread to ``several hundred'' people. The case follows the resignation of Klaus Kleinfeld at Siemens AG because of a bribery scandal and the trial of labor leaders at Volkswagen AG over improper use of expenses.
``Apparently foundations in Liechtenstein were established for the sole purpose of evading taxes,'' Eduard Gueroff, a spokesman for the Bochum prosecutor's office, said in a statement today. ``The evidence we have so far is very strong.''
``The government today accepted the offer by Mr. Zumwinkel to resign,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin. ``I believe this step was inevitable, after what happened. This was more than I could have imagined, and more than many people could have imagined.''
Shares Rise
Deutsche Post shares rose as much as 69 cents, or 3.1 percent, to 22.94 euros and closed up at 22.50 euros in Frankfurt electronic trading. The stock has fallen 4.6 percent in 2008, valuing the company at 27 billion euros.
Zumwinkel's replacement will need to focus on the unprofitable DHL business in the U.S. and decide whether to sell Postbank. The bank today said fourth-quarter profit fell 39 percent to 169 million euros after U.S. subprime-related writedowns and because gains from asset sales weren't repeated.
``We are bound to see some adjustments to Deutsche Post's strategy,'' said Axel Funhof, head of transport and logistics analysis at ING Groep NV in Brussels. ``After years of loss making, the U.S. business finally needs to be taken care of.''
Zumwinkel sits on the board of Morgan Stanley and is chairman of Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe's biggest telephone company, and Deutsche Postbank AG, Germany's largest consumer bank by clients, and also holds supervisory board seats at Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Arcandor AG. The government is the largest shareholder in Deutsche Post, with 31 percent.
Fixing U.S. Business
Deutsche Post will hold a supervisory board meeting Feb. 18 to discuss Zumwinkel's departure and possible replacements. Frank Appel, Deutsche Post's management board member in charge of the logistics business, will be named as CEO at the meeting, the Financial Times Deutschland reported today, without saying where it got the information. Deutsche Post declined to comment.
Zumwinkel took the helm in 1990, overseeing Deutsche Post's initial public offering more than seven years ago and the takeover of the DHL express-delivery business in 2002. He's the longest-serving CEO on Germany's 30-member benchmark DAX Index.
He studied at the University of Muenster where he earned masters and doctoral degrees. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school, which was founded in 1881 as the country's first school of business, receiving a master's of science in 1971.
Putting up Bail
Prosecutors yesterday raided Zumwinkel's offices at Deutsche Post's Bonn headquarters and his home in Cologne as part of the tax investigation. He was questioned on the same day and returned home after putting up bail.
``Mr. Zumwinkel has told the board's executive committee that in the interest of the company, he plans to resign,'' the company said in an e-mailed statement. Zumwinkel's attorney.
Zumwinkel previously served as the head of Quelle Group, a German mail-order company, and was a senior partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co. His Deutsche Post contract was due to expire in November and analysts had suggested he probably wouldn't renew it. Like Zumwinkel, Appel worked at McKinsey before he joined Deutsche Post.
Deutsche Post said that as well as stepping down as CEO, Zumwinkel was also quitting as Postbank chairman.
``We believe Mr. Zumwinkel has the impression'' that claims he didn't pay 1 million euros are correct, Finance Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig said today at a Berlin press conference.
Merkel will discuss the tax scandal with Liechtenstein's Prime Minister Otmar Hasler at a meeting in Berlin on Feb. 20, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chad Thomas in Berlin at [email protected] .
Last Updated: February 15, 2008 12:22 EST

[hetfield]

Isn't it the guy who brought that AeroLogic thing up to save some money from the LCA-pilots?