Police raid targets head of Germany’s Deutsche Post

Berlin — German police searched the office and home of Klaus Zumwinkel, the head of the international logistics concern Deutsche Post, mounting surprise simultaneous dawn raids.

Reports said the raids targeting the 64-year-old Zumwinkel, who has been at the helm at Deutsche Post since 1990, had been motivated by alleged large-scale tax evasion.

A Deutsche Post spokesman confirmed the search of Zumwinkel’s Bonn office and that there was an investigation underway. In Cologne, police cordoned off Zumwinkel’s home in the upscale Marienburg area.

Neither prosecutors nor the police would provide details of the search.

Nor would they confirm reports that the investigation concerned around 10 million euros (14.5 million dollars) stashed in a bank account in Liechtenstein, a principality bordering Switzerland and Austria with a reputation as a tax haven.

Bernd Bieniossek, spokesman for the economic crime division in the prosecutors office in the area, declined to confirm that Zumwinkel was the target.

"No statements are made while the search actions are still underway," he said.

Zumwinkel is credited with turning the loss-making former state monopoly into a profitable private concern with a global reach and a staff of 520,000.

He also sits on the supervisory boards of Deutsche Post subsidiary Postbank and of Deutsche Telekom, the former monopoly telecommunications provider that was split from Deutsche Post in 1995.

At the end of last year, Zumwinkel drew negative publicity when he sold shares in Deutsche Post for 4.7 million euros after the German parliament had passed imposed a minimum wage in the postal sector.

Deutsche Post’s share had risen in anticipation that it would secure an advantage over new companies entering the market.

DPA with Expatica