FRANKFURT - THE biggest German bank, Deutsche Bank, has been implicated in a US tax evasion investigation, a press report alleged on Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank is suspected by US justice officials of having arranged transactions for lawyer John B. Ohle III, who was accused of allowing clients to avoid paying about 103 million dollars (S$157.4 million) in taxes, the Handelsblatt newspaper alleged in a report.

Its article was based on information published in the New York Times, and said the alleged tax evasion had taken place through speculative funds.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Wednesday when contacted.

In its third-quarter report however, the bank mentioned a criminal investigation into fiscal transactions made between 1997 and 2001 that was being carried out by federal US justice authorities.

The report said that 'Deutsche Bank provided similar financial products and services in certain tax-oriented transactions that are the same or similar to the tax-oriented transactions' in question, and added that the 'criminal investigation is ongoing'.

Shares in the biggest German bank fell by almost 5.0 per cent in morning trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange, while the DAX index of leading shares had given up 1.35 per cent overall. -- AFP