Deutsche Post CEO to Resign in Tax Scandal

Deutsche Post AG Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel will step down from the position he has held for 18 years after German prosecutors announced he was under investigation for tax evasion, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Zumwinkel has told the board’s executive committee “that in the interest of the company, he plans to resign,” Bonn, Germany-based Deutsche Post said in an e-mailed statement Friday, Bloomberg reported.

Deutsche Post did not name a successor for Zumwinkel, 64, who is being probed by German authorities for evading 1 million euros, or about $1.5 million, in taxes by transferring money to foundations in Liechtenstein, Bloomberg said.

His successor will need to focus on the unprofitable DHL business in the Untied States and decide whether to sell retail banking unit Deutsche Postbank AG, Bloomberg reported.

Zumwinkel also sits on the airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s supervisory board and on U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley’s board of directors, the Associated Press reported.

DHL Americas, ranked No. 3 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, said this week it would cut 600 jobs in the United States due to a slowing economy.