By Hugh Williamson in Berlin

The German government has been offered another set of details of bank accounts in Liechtenstein, in what could be the latest intelligence coup in Germany’s Europe-wide campaign to track down tax evaders.

The finance ministry in Berlin confirmed German media reports on Friday that lawyers representing an informant had on February 25 contacted a deputy finance minister to discuss the data, which allegedly include information on 2,300 bank accounts containing more than €4bn.

“It is true that additional tax data has been offered to the finance ministry,” it said. The ministry had referred the lawyers to Germany’s specialist tax investigation authorities but it was not clear on Friday night whether an agreement had been reached to obtain the data.

According to German media reports, the lawyers who approached the finance ministry were working for Michael Freitag, 48, a German who is in detention in Rostock, northern Germany, facing charges of blackmailing Liechtensteinische Landesbank, the principality’s second largest bank.

Prosecutors in Rostock said the LLB had, between 2005 and 2007, paid Mr Freitag approximately €9m for the return of most of the data, with a further payment and data transfer due next year.

The payments were disrupted when Mr Freitag was arrested by German authorities last September after he tried to deposit €1.4m in a Rostock bank and bank officials alerted finance investigators. LLB declined to comment.

Last month, Germany made public its decision to pay an informant about €4.2m for a disc containing data on Liechtenstein bank accounts. The principality does not share information about such assets with other countries.

This week, a majority of European Union finance ministers called for a clampdown on European tax havens, including Liechtenstein, Monaco and Andorra.

Polish prosecutors said on Friday they would like to obtain from Germany data from the LGT probe relevant to their own investigations.

Prosecutors and tax investigators responsible for the LGT probe said they had not been approached regarding the information.

The finance ministry indicated that the lawyers for Mr Freitag might have intended to propose a pact involving the transfer of the bank data in return for a milder sentence if he were found guilty of blackmail. A payment for the data did not appear to be the lawyers’ top priority, he said. “The person concerned does not appear to have financial problems,” it said.

Before his arrest Mr Freitag frequented a luxury resort in Phuket, Thailand, and owned an expensive yacht, according to German media.

His lawyer could not be reached for comment but is expected to make a statement on Monday. Four other people have been imprisoned or detained in Liechtenstein and Germany regarding the alleged theft of the LLB data.