An Irish-registered bank operating in the International Financial Services Centre has said it held one deposit of 10 million deutschmarks (€5.11 million) for one week in a name similar to that of a German company at the heart of an £800 million (€1.16 billion) German fraud case.
DePfa-Bank Europe plc (DBE) said it never held a deposit in the name of Flowtex Technologie GmbH & Co, but did hold one deposit from a German company of a similar name for one week in June 1997.
"The deposit was received in the normal course of its business through a highly reputable and well-known German bank acting as broker," the bank said in a statement. DBE said it was entitled to rely on the integrity of the German intermediary bank.
On Wednesday, the High Court granted a temporary order restraining DBE from paying out or reducing monies standing in any accounts in the name of Flowtex. DBE said the grounding affidavit for the court order stressed there was "no evidence whatsoever" to suggest the bank had acted in any way improperly.
