A German publisher said Wednesday that it will stop selling books about the Russian President Vladimir Putin written by a prestigious journalist, when it emerged that he allegedly received at least 600,000 euros ($651,000) in payments linked to Russian sources.
The publishing house Hoffmann und Campe said in a statement that it will stop selling two books about Putin from German journalist Hubert Seipel following reports by the weekly Der Spiegel and public television ZDF, adding that he was previously unaware of these allegations.
According to reports on Tuesday, Seipel received indirectly linked funds with a Russian oligarch sanctioned to portray a favorable image of Putin in his books.
Public broadcaster NDR, which had produced a documentary with Seipel in 2012 about Putin and aired his interviews with the Russian president, also said that considers initiating legal measures against the reporter.
The allegations, published by international media outlets such as The Guardian, are based on information that emerged from Cyprus Confidential financial files leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.