Authorities Raid Deutsche Bank Headquarters Over Potential Money Laundering Scheme
Tax investigators and 170 police officers stormed Deutsche Bank’s head office in Frankfurt, Germany Thursday to investigate a possible money laundering scam exposed in the famous Panama Papers.
Authorities raided six Deutsche bank branches Thursday and apprehended two bank employees in connection to a money laundering investigation linked to the Panama Papers, according to Business Insider.
The Panama Papers are a collection of 11.5 million leaked documents on offshore tax structures from the Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca.
A German newspaper leaked the encrypted confidential documents on April 3, 2016.
A dozen current and former world leaders, as well as 128 other public officials and politicians, were named in the papers.
Wealthy celebrities and businessmen were also exposed in the documents.
Prosecutors allege that the bank helped roughly 900 clients set up offshore companies in tax havens, laundering an estimated $354 million, according to Business Insider.
“We confirm that the police are currently conducting an investigation at a number of our offices in Germany,” the bank said in a statement Thursday.
“The investigation relates to the Panama Papers. We will be issuing further details in due course. We are cooperating fully with the authorities.”
Prominent Clinton donor Farhad Azima was exposed during the Panama Papers scandal when the investigation uncovered that he had worked with the law firm Mossack Fonseca.
The Panama Papers do not mention the Clintons, according to McClatchy Newspapers. Major U.S. defense contractor Triple Canopy was also implicated in the Panama Papers.
“As far as we are concerned, we have already provided the authorities with all the relevant information regarding (the) Panama Papers,” the bank also said in a statement, CNN reported Thursday.
“Of course, we will cooperate closely with the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt, as it is in our interest as well to clarify the facts.”
Bank shares dropped more than three percent Thursday, according to CNN.
Deutsche Bank has faced other investigations this month.
Criminal investigators demanded information from the bank in mid-November regarding its transactions with Danske Bank’s Estonia branch over suspicious transactions between 2007 and 2015, according to Reuters.
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