 Germany's corporate chiefs are under fire after a police raid on one of the country's most respected bosses on Thursday added to the list of scandals that is shaking the public's faith in its cherished corporate system. The swoop on the home and offices of Klaus Zumwinkel, chief executive of Deutsche Post and a pillar of the establishment, in a probe into suspected tax dodging was the latest shock for Germans already seething over fat-cat pay and golden handshakes. On top of a series of scandals in the last few years which have engulfed Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen and Siemens, Germany's biggest corporate employer, commentators warn of political consequences and said the far-left Left party could gain. Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the potential damage of the Zumwinkel case, which involves individuals rather than the company as a whole, was "considerable". "If the public has something like this as a role model, they'll start having doubts about the economic and social system," said Steinbrueck, a Social Democrat (SPD) in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right coalition. The case took on even bigger proportions on Friday when a newspaper reported the investigation could stretch to hundreds of rich and prominent Germans with offshore bank accounts. Germany's post-war identity is founded on its economic and corporate prowess, epitomised by the country's status as the world's biggest exporter and by the number of companies which are world leaders in their sector. Although managers' salaries are still below U.S. and British levels, discontent is growing among Germans who feel they are not reaping the rewards of growth in Europe's biggest economy. Disposable income for lower earners has fallen and the media have launched a campaign over excessive manager pay. Targets have included Juergen Schrempp, the former chief executive of carmaker Daimler who walked off with millions in a pay off and stock options as his merger with U.S. automaker Chrysler unravelled and shareholders lost out. "(Zumwinkel's) case is one which feeds the general suspicion many people have: 'The top people lie and cheat everyone else'," wrote the Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an editorial on Friday. 
PUSH TO THE LEFT? Although politicians from across the spectrum, including Merkel, have criticised excessive corporate pay, commentators say public anger over what the media calls morally degenerate bosses could lead to more left-wing policies. The growing appeal of the Left party, a group of former communists and disaffected former centre-left SPD supporters, has already pulled the main political parties to the left by forcing the ruling coalition to soften its stance on welfare reforms. "The picture of a number of greedy managers is catastrophic as it spawns a sense of social injustice which can only help the Left party," Klaus Schneider, head of the SdK shareholders' association told Reuters. Former German finance minister Oskar Lafontaine, a co-leader of the Left, wants to increase public spending on pensions, welfare benefits and education. Corruption watchdog Transparency International says there is no objective data to show corruption is increasing in Germany. "But you can say that in the last 10 to 15 years the subject has become far more important in peoples' minds ... there has been a change in the climate," Peter von Blomberg, deputy head of Transparency International Germany, told Reuters. Von Blomberg said Scandinavian countries were something of a model, thanks to open communication channels between citizens and authorities. German firms need to introduce and enforce compliance guidelines and protect whistleblowers, he said. "In Germany there is still quite a distaste for denouncing people -- there are historical reasons for this but I think we may see a discussion about a possible legal framework to protect whistleblowers here," he said.