Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann and five former Mannesmann AG officials won approval for a 5.8 million-euro ($7.6 million) settlement of charges they illegally approved bonuses, ending Germany's first criminal inquiry into executive pay.

``The longer the trial continues, the more the public interest in a criminal prosecution and the possible guilt of the defendants diminish,'' Stefan Drees, the presiding judge at the Dusseldorf regional court, said today. ``The court doesn't share the view that the defendants are buying themselves free.''

The six defendants were being tried a second time for allegedly wasting shareholders' money in connection with the approval of more than 57 million euros in bonuses in 2000 after Mannesmann was bought by Vodafone Group Plc in the world's biggest hostile takeover. The defendants last week agreed to the settlement with the public prosecutors.

The trial, which became a symbol of executive greed in Germany, threw the spotlight on the country's corporate governance and helped introduce a law requiring all public companies to disclose management compensation. The case also set a legal precedent for future bonus issues, the prosecutors said.

The settlement was approved today by a five-member panel at the Dusseldorf court.

`Legal Security'

The new trial started on Oct. 26 after Germany's highest court revoked the acquittals of all the defendants, saying the 2004 trial failed to prove that bonus payments served Mannesmann's interests. Ackermann and three other former supervisory board members of the telecommunications company were charged with criminal breach of trust. Former CEO Klaus Esser and another employee were charged as accessories.

The highest court's ruling ``cleared legal questions about the evaluation of bonuses to company managers under the criminal law beyond the case in question,'' Dusseldorf prosecutors said in a statement last week. ``Legal security has therefore been created for the future.''

The federal court ruled that all compensation decisions must be made in the company's interests and pay not previously determined in contracts has to bring advantages, for example by acting as an incentive for future work.

`Spared'

Ackermann, who didn't receive any of the pay at issue in the trial, will pay 3.2 million euros under the settlement terms. He emphasized last week that he will make the payment out of his own pocket. His annual income amounts to between 15 million euros and 20 million euros, he told the court last month.

The settlement agreement frees him from months in court and a possible jail sentence. He had to spend as many as two days a week in court during the six-month trial in 2004 and faced repeated calls for his resignation over the case.

``This has spared Deutsche Bank a trial, the duration of which would otherwise have been unforeseeable,'' the bank's supervisory board said in a statement. ``We are pleased that Dr. Ackermann can devote his entire energy to continuing to lead Deutsche Bank on its successful course,'' the board's chairman, Clemens Boersig, said in the statement.

The supervisory board in February extended Ackermann's contract until 2010.

Shares in Deutsche Bank rose as much as 97 cents, or 1 percent, to 98.64 euros and traded at 98.35 euros as of 11:11 a.m. in Frankfurt. The stock is little changed since the retrial began Oct. 26.

Esser will pay 1.5 million euros, while former supervisory board chairman Joachim Funk will pay 1 million euros. Former supervisory board members Klaus Zwickel and Juergen Ladberg agreed to pay 60,000 euros and 12,500 euros, respectively. Former employee Dietmar Droste will pay 30,000 euros.

The payment amounts were determined according to the defendants' incomes and their involvement in the approval of bonuses, the prosecutors said.

``The court has spoken,'' Esser told reporters after the hearing, declining to comment further. Esser said last week that he is still convinced of his innocence.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elena Logutenkova in Dusseldorf at elogutenkova@bloomberg.net; Holger Elfes in Dusseldorf at helfes@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 29, 2006 05:40 EST