Bomb Found at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt
Threat to company CEO in mailroom. Security stepped up in NY.
Dec. 7, 2011 — -- An investigation is underway into a bomb addressed to Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann and found in the mailroom of the German bank's Frankfurt headquarters.
As a result of the confirmed threat to the 63-year-old Swiss banker, New York City police stepped up security at the bank's U.S. headquarters in New York.
Ackerman is one of Europe's most powerful bankers and is a key advisor in the European Union debt crisis to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He has played an important role in the efforts to reduce Greece's debt.
Recently, the bank's Munich offices were searched by prosecutors investigating suspicions that Ackermann and other former top executives gave false testimony in an ongoing civil suit.
It was not immediately clear whether his role in managing the debt crisis or some other grievance had triggered the delivery of the bomb. It was discovered by a mailroom x-ray machine and it did not explode.
In New York City, 10,000 security officials who take part in the NYPD Shield program were advised by that police unit of the attempted attack at the German bank and reminded to alert their mail rooms to proper procedures for handling suspicious packages.