Deutsche Bank chief named in legal probe Jürgen Fitschen, Deutsche Bank's co-chief executive, has been named as a suspect in a probe into whether the bank's board members gave incorrect evidence in court, as a decade-long dispute with media empire Kirch Group continues to cast a shadow over the lender. In the latest in a string of legal problems for Deutsche Bank, Munich prosecutors are investigating whether members of the bank's board gave misleading information in a civil court case in 2011 brought by Kirch against Germany's flagship lender. Prosecutors said that Mr Fitschen, who gave evidence at the 2011 case, is now a suspect alongside other former board members who have already been named in the probe, including Josef Ackermann, the former chief executive of Deutsche. Documents seized by Munich prosecutors during a raid of Deutsche's offices in December 2012 uncovered reason to believe Mr Fitschen could also have given incorrect testimony during the civil case in 2011, a spokesman for the Munich prosecutor said. "The bank is absolutely convinced that this suspicion will prove to be unfounded," Deutsche said. Mr Fitschen's contract as co-chief executive alongside Anshu Jain was renewed for an extra two years to 2017 just last month. Kirch Group, headed by Leo Kirch, the media tycoon, filed for the biggest bankruptcy in German history in 2002. Representatives of Kirch, who died two years ago, have long alleged that bankers at Deutsche conspired to bring about the collapse of the group. The civil case found that Deutsche was liable for damages for the collapse of the Kirch media empire. A decision on how much Deutsche needs to pay out has yet to be reached by the civil court, while the bank is appealing against the finding of liability. Legal costs continue to be a drag on Deutsche, which last week unveiled a 94 per cent drop in net income in the third quarter of the year after setting aside a further €1.2bn in litigation charges, bringing its total pool to €4.1bn. The bank faces lawsuits in the US concerning sales of mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis. Rival banks have paid out billions to settle the claims by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Deutsche has also not yet faced any fines over the Libor rate manipulation scandal that has so far led to four banks and a broker being hit with heavy fines.