Deutsche Bank CEO Target of Suspected Letter Bomb
December 8th, 2011I don’t know how, or even if, this fits in at all, but remember this little tidbit from my 2006 piece about the Wall Street Chop Shop:
I handled some issues for the secondary marketing department, even, would you believe, for the person who pulled the trigger on these paper dumps at the end of the month.
“Who buys this stuff?” I asked.
“Oh lots and lots of people. Well, banks and insurance companies mostly. [Large European Bank name deleted] buys a lot of it.”
I wonder if [Large European Bank name deleted] knew what I knew or cared about how those loans were generated. (Of course, they knew and didn’t care. They’ll sell this toilet paper debt to some other sucker down the line.)
Ok, [Large European Bank name deleted] was Deutsche Bank.
I’m not sure if we know how many hot potatoes they got stuck with when the shit hit the fan. I just think it’s an interesting coincidence that the CEO of the bank that was buying a lot of the toxic waste that the “Chop Shop” was generating just happened to receive a letter bomb.
Maybe Deutsche Bank sold some of those hot, steaming “Chop Shop” securities to another party who wasn’t too pleased with the result. In, Unloading Toxic Waste Mortgage Backed Securities: “We Americans Were Very Clever,” I wrote:
At some point, this thing is going to start looking less like a financial crisis and more like a mob war.
Questions, questions…
Via: CNBC:
The New York Police Department alerted Wall Street after confirmation that a letter bomb was sent to the CEO of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.
“NYPD learned that a letter bomb was detected by x-ray equipment in the bank’s mail room this morning, 1 p.m. Frankfurt time. We stepped up security at Deutsche Bank offices in New York and reminded — out of an abundance of caution — our 10,000 private security “Shield” members to follow guidelines for the detection and handling of suspicious packages and letters,” said Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, NYPD.
German police are investigating the suspicious envelope, addressed to chief executive Josef Ackermann at Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank.
“The explosive device in Frankfurt contained shrapnel. It did not detonate,” confirmed Commissioner Browne.
In New York, a spokesman from the bank confirmed the news: “Today Deutsche Bank received a suspect package addressed to Dr. Ackermann. The relevant unit of the bank informed the police in Frankfurt. The police have undertaken an investigation.”
Frankfurt police spokesman Alexander Kiessling said: “There was a piece of mail that arrived at Deutsche Bank that was noticed. It was noticed because it seemed unusual.”
Ackermann is the face of capitalism in Germany and is one of the few senior managers in the country who is always surrounded by bodyguards.
He is due to retire in May next year after more than 10 years at the helm of the bank.
A U.S. law enforcement official told Reuters that the package carried a return address from the European Central Bank, which is also located in Germany’s financial centre.
Banking sources said the bank had stepped up security measures around the world.
