German police raided Deutsche Bank offices on Thursday, seeking evidence in a money laundering investigation into the practice of hiding money offshore to elude tax collectors and government regulators.
"Police officers and tax inspectors entered Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt early Thursday morning and seized documents," NPR's Esme Nicholson reports from Berlin. "Prosecutors are investigating two employees of the bank who allegedly assisted customers in setting up offshore firms to avoid anti-money laundering safeguards when transferring money to accounts at Deutsche Bank."
Nicholson adds, "According to investigators, in 2016 alone, more than 900 Deutsche Bank customers were served by a subsidiary registered in the British Virgin Islands." Those 900 customers did business totaling 311 million euros (about $350 million), the Frankfurt prosecutor's office said.
The search involved some 170 officers from the prosecutor's office, the tax investigation department and the federal police, said senior public prosecutor Nadja Niesen, in an email to NPR. She added that the search resulted in the seizure of "numerous business documents" in either electronic or paper form. There have been no arrests, Niesen said.
Deutsche Bank has been fined and criticized for its poor record of preventing money laundering. As Deutsche Welle reports, "In August, it confirmed that even after it was fined for helping Russian clients wash some $10 billion, its mechanisms to stop such criminal activity were still inefficient.
In a brief statement, the bank confirmed the investigation taking place "at a number of our offices in Germany." Without providing details about the inquiry, Deutsche Bank stated, "The investigation has to do with the Panama Papers case." It added, "We are cooperating fully with the authorities." (Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
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Panama Papers: Multiple Clinton connections / By Anita Kumar, Marisa Taylor and Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Washington Bureau
<><>Some Clinton foundation donors used the Panamanian law firm for offshores
<><>Offshore connections come from the more than 40 years Bill and Hillary Clinton have spent in public life
<><>Candidate Clinton criticized those exposed in the Panama Papers, some looking to hide their wealth
Offshore corporations have one main purpose - to create anonymity. Recently leaked documents reveal that some of these shell companies, cloaked in secrecy, provide cover for dictators, politicians and tax evaders. BY Sohail Al-Jamea and Ali Rizvi / McClatchy
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NYPost---CAPSULE OF PANAMA STORIES
<><>The Clintons’ connection to the Panama Papers April 17, 2016 | 2:19amWhen the recently leaked “Panama Papers” exposed the existence of thousands of offshore bank accounts of the politically high and mighty, Hillary Clinton quickly decried them as “outrageous tax havens”...
<><>Panama Papers law firm raided by organized crime prosecutors April 13, 2016 | 9:41am PANAMA CITY — Organized crime prosecutors raided the offices of the Mossack Fonseca law firm Tuesday looking for evidence of money laundering and financing terrorism following a leak of documents...
<><>Panama Papers firm used Red Cross’ name to mask funds April 10, 2016 | 1:51pm PARIS — The law firm at the center of the Panama offshore accounts scandal routinely usurped the name of the Red Cross and other charities to help obscure the origin...