Police raid Deutsche bank headquarters

2012-12-12 17:01

A police car stands in front of the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, central Germany. (Alex Domanski, dapd/AP)

Frankfurt - German prosecutors issued arrest warrants on Wednesday for five employees of Deutsche Bank on suspicion of money laundering and obstruction of justice following raids on the lender.

About 500 police officers as well as tax investigators searched the Frankfurt headquarters of Germany's biggest bank, along with several apartments and businesses in Berlin and Dusseldorf as part of a two-year investigation into tax evasion involved in the trading of carbon emission permits.

Deutsche Bank said it would co-operate fully in the investigation launched by the attorney general's office in the state of Hesse.

"Public prosecutors searched Deutsche Bank offices today in connection with investigations that have been underway since the spring of 2010 against individuals suspected of tax evasion in the trading of CO2 emission certificates," the bank said in a statement.

In 2010, 25 employees were investigated on suspicion of money laundering and obstruction of justice following similar raids on the bank.

In December 2011, a German court sentenced six men to jail for their involvement in a scheme to evade a minimum of $300m in value-added tax (VAT) on the trade in CO2 certificates linked to Deutsche Bank.

- SAPA