- Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt, Germany, offices were searched Thursday as part of a Panama Papers-linked investigation.
- The bank is being investigated over money-laundering suspicions raised by the 2016 data leak.
- The German lender is under increasing pressure, and its shares are plunging.
Six Deutsche Bank branches were searched Thursday in a money-laundering investigation linked to the 2016 Panama Papers data leak. The company’s shares dropped.
In total, 170 prosecutors, police officers, and tax inspectors took part in the raid, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt, Germany. Two bank employees, ages 50 and 46, were targeted as suspects in the case, according to the statement. Deutsche Bank shares fell as much as 3% on the news and were down 2.6% as of 11:20 a.m. in Frankfurt (5:20 a.m. ET).
According to prosecutors, Deutsche Bank is suspected of aiding some 900 customers in setting up offshore companies in tax havens. Prosecutors have reportedly said roughly 311 million euros ($354 million) is believed to have been laundered, citing information from the so-called Panama Papers.
“We confirm that the police are currently conducting an investigation at a number of our offices in Germany,” the bank said in a statement. “The investigation relates to the Panama Papers. We will be issuing further details in due course. We are cooperating fully with the authorities.”
It's been a tough few weeks for Deutsche after reports that its head of the Americas, Tom Patrick, would leave the bank by year-end alongside a raft of other senior management changes. The bank's stock fell last week after Citigroup's CEO, Michael Corbat, dismissed merger talk between the two lenders.
Deutsche was also embroiled in the Danske Bank scandal, adding to a growing list of concerns for the Frankfurt-based lender.
