KARLSRUHE, Germany, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Germany's Federal Court of Justice Wednesday ordered the head of Deutsche Bank AG to stand trial a second time in an executive bonus scandal.
Josef Ackermann, who was acquitted last year in a criminal trial over the scandal, was expected to resign his post at the bank as he prepares for a retrial in the scandal at Mannesmann AG, his former employer, the Guardian reported.
Dusseldorf prosecutors intend to implicate Ackermann and other officers of the engineering and telecom conglomerate of a breach of trust in approving multimillion-dollar bonuses for various Mannesmann executives. The bonuses were paid after Mannesmann was taken over by Vodafone in late 2000.
But Ackermann never received bonus money, and last year he was acquitted of criminal charges in the case.
If Ackermann leaves Deutsche Bank, the putative favorite to succeed him is Rainer Neske, the 41-year-old head of Deutsche Bank's retail operations.
