European Press Agency (EPA)

December 16, 2012 Sunday

Police operation in the Deutsche Bank

 Police officers stand at the entrance of the head office of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 12 December 2012.

German prosecutors issued arrest has warrants 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. 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 230 million euros (300 million dollars) in value-added tax (VAT) on the trade in CO2 certificates linked to Deutsche Bank. EPA/FRANK RUMPENHORST Photo via Newscom