House searches at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and Berlin in money laundering file

Deutsche Bank confirmed that the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office is having the offices searched. The bank is providing full cooperation and says it cannot go into further detail. According to sources familiar with the file, it would be an explosive file, writes The mirror. The newspaper South German newspaper believes that the investigation is related to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, a customer of the bank. The businessman, who owned the Chelsea football team for many years, has been on the European sanctions list since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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According to the newspaper, Deutsche Bank allegedly reported one or more suspected money laundering transactions too late to the authorities. The bank and the public prosecutor’s office did not want to comment on this information on Wednesday.

Also The mirror now refers to Abramovich. The investigation would concern companies that, according to investigators, are affiliated with the businessman. His lawyer tells the weekly that Abramovich is not aware of investigations into this case. He is said to have “always acted in accordance with the applicable national and international laws and regulations”. Any statement to the contrary is “false and damaging to reputation.” The French news agency AFP also refers to financial sources, which state that the investigation revolves around transactions between 2013 and 2018.

Deutsche Bank has been criticized in the past for not sufficiently monitoring money laundering cases or reporting them too late. For example, in April 2022, investigators from the public prosecutor’s office, the police and supervisory authority BaFin searched the buildings. BaFin temporarily sent a special representative to the bank to monitor progress in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The listed major bank will publish its annual figures on Thursday. The searches are considered a setback for CEO Christian Sewing. After all, he is praised for the turnaround at the bank and for being able to end a long period of scandals and losses. Sewing has been at the helm of Deutsche Bank for almost eight years.