23.10.2014 21:39 h

Fugitive Swiss banker arrested in Poland, 'link to Hoeness'

Polish authorities said Thursday they had arrested a Swiss banker wanted by Germany on suspicion of tax fraud that a report said may involve the jailed former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness.

"I can confirm that yesterday (Wednesday) police arrested a banker, Swiss citizen Juerg H.. The police acted on a European arrest warrant issued by Germany pertaining to a tax fraud case," Przemyslaw Nowak, a spokesman for prosecutors in Warsaw, told AFP.

Under Polish law, the surnames of suspects must be withheld.

According to the website of the German newspaper Wiesbadener Kurier, the arrested banker, an employee of Vontobel bank in Zurich, had managed Hoeness's business affairs since the 1990s.

The bank confirmed to AFP that one of its employees was "in custody in Europe" but declined to give further details.

In March, a court in Munich sentenced Hoeness to three and a half years in jail for tax evasion to the tune of 28.5 million euros ($36 million) after he hid his wealth in a Swiss bank.

Hoeness, 62, has resigned as president and supervisory board chairman of the powerhouse German football club.