Munich prosecutors investigating Infineon's ex-CEO

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Munich prosecutors confirmed on Saturday a report that they were investigating Infineon's ex-chief executive Ulrich Schumacher as part of an ongoing probe into a corruption affair at the German chipmaker.

German weekly magazine Focus had reported that Schumacher was now suspected of accepting financial favours from suppliers, a charge that the former manager denied to the magazine.

"I can confirm the article. It's true," a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said.

Focus quoted Schumacher as saying: "I never took even one cent," and it added that he was closely cooperating with the authorities.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach Schumacher, who had previously been a witness in the investigation, on Saturday.

Munich prosecutors are investigating allegations that Andreas von Zitzewitz, who was Infineon's chief operating office -- as well as another Infineon manager who resigned last year -- received kickbacks of up to 259,000 euros (US$310,300) for arranging motor sports sponsorship contracts.

Schumacher resigned unexpectedly on 25 March. Both he and Infineon have maintained since that his reasons were personal.

Von Zitzewitz resigned in July after the allegations became public.

Infineon has since discontinued most of its sports sponsorship deals.