New data may boost German tax dodge probe

BERLIN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The German authorities have been handed bank account data on more than 1,800 people that could give fresh impetus to their pursuit of tax dodgers secretly using banks in Liechtenstein.

The state prosecutor's office in the northern city of Rostock was given the data as part of a blackmail case and the amount of money in the accounts could be around 3 billion euros ($4.7 billion), senior prosecutor Peter Lueckemann said.

The case targets several men who are accused of blackmailing Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) by threatening to hand data on some of the bank's clients over to the authorities.

Earlier this year Germany began one of its biggest ever investigations into suspected tax dodging, forcing the resignation of one of the country's top business leaders, Klaus Zumwinkel, chief executive of mail group Deutsche Post.

The affair began when, according to government sources, Germany's foreign intelligence service paid around 4.2 million euros for information on the accounts of Germans who parked their money in Liechtenstein in order to evade tax.

International pressure increased for the Alpine principality to lift the cloak of secrecy from its banks but it has defended the system.

Lueckemann said the latest documents received are being examined and formal investigations would be launched into any individuals who were suspected of dodging tax. (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Iain Rogers; Editing by Greg Mahlich)