Deutsche Bank searched for second day
November 30, 2018
German authorities on Friday continued a raid at the headquarters of Germany's biggest lender, Deutsche Bank.
The search comes amid an ongoing investigation into allegations that some employees helped set up offshore companies used to launder huge sums. It is the latest blow to the bank, whose reputation has suffered in recent years owing to a number of financial and regulatory scandals and three years of losses.
Police hoped to locate more material during Friday's search, a spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor said, a day after large amounts of electronic and paper records were seized at the bank's headquarters and buildings in nearby areas.
She said offices of board members were among those searched and that information on previously unknown suspects had been found.
Read more: Deutsche Bank's 5 biggest scandals
Potentially expanding investigation
The prosecutor's office has said the searches were prompted by information from several documents leaked from tax havens in recent years, including the 2016 Panama Papers.
The Panama Papers consist of millions of documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that give information on shell corporations used to carry out fraud and tax evasion or, in some cases, to get around international sanctions.
Currently, two Deutsche Bank employees are being investigated for allegedly failing to report suspicious transactions, but prosecutors say the probe could widen.
The bank said on Thursday it was cooperating with investigators, and declined to make any further comment on Friday.
Read more: German regulators breathing down Deutsche Bank's neck over money laundering
tj/rt (Reuters, AP, dpa)