Bundesbank President Under Fire in Perks Scandal
April 5, 2004Ernst Welteke, the president of the Bundesbank, is facing calls for his resignation from politicians after reports surfaced that he accepted perks from a leading commercial bank two years ago totalling nearly €8,000. A number of figures from both the ruling Social Democrats and opposition Christian Democrats have called for Welteke's resignation, saying that if reports were true that the Bundesbank president's four-day family holiday in Berlin was paid for by Dresdner Bank he should step down. Germany's Der Spiegel magazine quoted Welteke confirming Dresdner Bank paid a €7,661 bill for a four-day stay in a luxury hotel after he appeared at a bank party on New Year's Eve 2001. The bill also covered costs for his wife, young son, and his 25-year-old son and his girlfriend. Welteke has rejected the calls to step down.