Infineon Chief on the Defensive

The supervisory board chief of German computer chip maker Infineon, Max Dietrich Kley, rejected on Thursday suggestions that he had turned a blind eye to signs that one of the company's managers was possibly involved in corruption. Infineon is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal in which management board member Andreas von Zitzewitz tendered his resignation last week. Von Zitzewitz allegedly received money from Swiss sports sponsor BF Consulting in return for business favors. But Kley told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he had found no evidence that von Zitzewitz had been doing anything wrong. "We examined it very closely and were of the opinion that we could trust Mr von Zitzewitz," Kley said. The supervisory board chief conceded that Infineon had been informed of the allegations as far back as March 2004. But no proof had been found that the allegations were true. "I had the feeling that it was all a set-up," Kley said, insisting he saw no reason to quit as head of Infineon's supervisory board.