A police raid of Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt and other offices continued for a second day on Friday over money laundering allegations linked to the Panama Papers, a spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office said, Reuters informs.
The large volume of material being examined meant the search was still going on, prosecutors said, adding that offices of board members were included in the search without giving further details.
On Thursday the bank, Germany’s biggest lender, said it was cooperating with investigators. Deutsche Bank shares traded 1.4 percent lower on Friday morning after a 3.4 decline on Thursday. Shares are down 48 percent so far this year.
Investigators are looking into the activities of two unnamed Deutsche Bank employees alleged to have helped clients set up offshore firms to launder money, the prosecutor’s office has said. The inquiries focus on events in 2013 through 2018, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said, Reuters adds.
The prosecutor said on Thursday the investigation had been triggered after investigators reviewed information in the Panama Papers, consisting of millions of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which were leaked to the media in April 2016.
Around 170 police officers, prosecutors and tax inspectors began the raid on Thursday, seizing written and electronic documents, thought only one police car was visible outside the bank’s headquarters early on Friday.
The raid comes as the German bank tries to repair its tattered reputation after three years of losses and a list of financial and regulatory scandals.
Christian Sewing, appointed chief executive in April to help the bank rebuild, has trimmed its U.S. operations and reshuffled its management board, but revenue has continued to slip, Reuters noted.
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