Executives Quit Amid Corruption

Three executives of tinplate maker Rasselstein, a unit of German steel giant ThyssenKrupp, have left their jobs, the company announced on Friday. But ThyssenKrupp rejected a newspaper report saying that one of them, the former chairman, had stepped down over allegations he was involved in corruption. Rasselstein's former chief executive, Konrad Noertersheuser, and two board members Klaus Frizen and Klaus Neuhaus-Wever, have all quit, ThyssenKrupp said in a statement. But Noertersheuser, who left the company on May 13, had resigned "for personal reasons" about which the company would not comment further, the statement said. "In an internal audit, no evidence was found of criminal actions," it said. According to a report in the Friday edition of the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, Noertersheuser resigned amid allegations he used Rasselstein's suppliers for building work on his own private house. And it was not certain whether Frizen and Neuhaus-Wever also stepped down because they knew about the scam and simply kept quiet, the newspaper said, quoting sources close to the company. ThyssenKrupp said that Frizen and Neuhaus-Wever had also submitted their resignations to the supervisory board with effect from June 30. "The background to this is the criticisms made by the supervisory board with regard to the teamwork of the three men," the company said. ThyssenKrupp expected to find replacements by the end of the year. Until then, Rasselstein would be run by Gerd Lohscheidt, board member responsible for technology and distribution, and Heinz Pafferath, head of personnel and finance, it said. The allegations of corruption come at a time when corporate Germany has already been rocked by a much bigger bribery and corruption at car maker Volkswagen.