German police search Deutsche Bank offices in money laundering probe
German law enforcement officers conducted searches at offices of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and Berlin on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
Following the news, shares of the German lender fell by about 2.7% in early trading.
In the official statement the bank confirmed that Frankfurt prosecutors had conducted an investigation at Deutsche Bank’s business premises and was cooperating fully with the prosecutor’s office.
The searches took place a day before Deutsche Bank is scheduled to publish its fourth quarter and full year financial results.
This is not the first time the lender has faced scrutiny from German authorities. In 2022, law enforcement agencies searched Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt offices as part of a separate money laundering investigation. In the same year, the bank and its asset management subsidiary DWS were investigated over allegations of greenwashing.
Earlier, in 2018, around 170 law enforcement officials inspected Deutsche Bank in connection with a tax evasion probe involving two employees. That investigation originated from the 2016 Panama Papers leak and was later dropped, although the bank was fined for compliance shortcomings.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that robbers stole around €30 million in cash and valuables from a savings bank branch in Gelsenkirchen in western Germany, in what police described as one of the largest bank heists in the country’s criminal history.