FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors have filed charges against Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) co-Chief Executive Juergen Fitschen and several former bank executives in connection with the Kirch media group's long-running bankruptcy case.
Munich prosecutors have been investigating whether Fitschen and a number of former executives gave misleading evidence during a civil court case brought by the heirs of Leo Kirch, the deceased media magnate who had sued Deutsche Bank.
A spokeswoman for the Munich court said the court had received the charges on Tuesday. "The chamber now has to decide whether the case is admissible," she said.
That process could take several months.
Besides Fitschen, prosecutors have also filed charges against former Deutsche Bank chief executives Josef Ackermann and Rolf Breuer, as well as former chairman Clemens Boersig in connection with the case.
The men have all denied any wrongdoing.
Fitschen left a Berlin conference on Tuesday without commenting and Deutsche Bank said it was sticking with its policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation.
"We refer, instead, to our previous statements underlining our belief that the allegation against Juergen Fitschen will prove unfounded," it said in an written statement.
Fitschen and Anshu Jain, the former head of Deutsche's investment bank, took over as co-CEOs in 2012.
News that prosecutors filed charges against Fitschen comes as Germany's largest bank struggles with a series of legal problems and works to meet strict new capital requirements from regulators.
(Reporting by Jens Hack; Writing by Edward Taylor and Jonathan Gould; Editing by David Holmes and Clara Ferreira Marques)