Ex-Deutsche Bank Manager Suing for $165 Million Is Schiraldi

The former Deutsche Bank AG employee suing the German lender for around €152 million ($165 million) over a criminal case was a top manager from its asset and wealth management division, Dario Schiraldi.

Schiraldi filed the suit in the Frankfurt Regional Court, the tribunal confirmed on Friday. The parties are in the process of exchanging briefs and a hearing will be scheduled once that will have been completed, a court spokeswoman said by email.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment. Schiraldi didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Deutsche Bank said in its annual report on Thursday that an ex-staffer filed the case alleging harm caused to his career by criminal proceedings in Italy related to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA. Deutsche Bank didn’t disclose his name.

Five other former Deutsche Bank employees involved in the Monte Paschi case also threatened to bring their own claims in an English court, the bank said in the report.

In the original criminal case, Monte Paschi managers were accused of colluding with Deutsche Bank staff to hide losses at the Italian lender by using complex derivatives trades, leading to a misrepresentation of the firm’s finances between 2008 and 2012.

After a conviction at the first instance in 2019, the six Deutsche Bank staffers – including Schiraldi – were fully acquitted in 2022 by a Milan appeals court, which found that there were no grounds for trial. In October 2023, Italy’s Supreme Court upheld the acquittal, a final ruling on the matter.

In the annual report, Deutsche Bank said it considers the claims now filed in the Frankfurt court “to be entirely without merit and will defend itself against them robustly, including disputing inflated, unrealistic alleged losses.”

The lender said it isn’t disclosing whether it has established a provision or contingent liability as it could affect the outcome of the proceedings.

Schiraldi joined Deutsche Bank in 2004 after stints at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. At Deutsche Bank’s investment bank unit he oversaw the institutional client group for Europe. Later he moved to the asset-and-wealth-management division where he was head of distribution. He left in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.