Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 30 November 2018

Police raid Deutsche Bank offices in money laundering case

By DAVID RISING the Panama Papers case."
FRANK JORDANS "More details will be com-
Associated Press municated as soon as
BERLIN (AP) — German au- these become known. We
thorities raided Deutsche are cooperating fully with
Bank's headquarters Thurs- the authorities," the bank
day amid suspicions that its said.
employees helped clients Money laundering has be-
set up offshore companies come a growing problem
that were used to launder in Europe, where a series of
hundreds of millions of eu- scandals has exposed lax
ros. regulation.
About 170 police officers, And it's not the first time
investigators and prosecu- Deutsche Bank has run into
tors swooped in on the trouble over the flow of
bank's offices in Frankfurt dirty money.
and premises in nearby Es- It was fined more than $600
chborn and Gross-Umstadt million by U.S. and U.K. au-
at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), seiz- thorities in January 2017
ing electronic and paper for allowing customers to
records. transfer $10 billion out of
The investigation emerged Russia in what regulators
from an analysis of docu- said was "highly suggestive
ments leaked from tax of financial crime."
havens in recent years, Police officers walk in the backyard of Deutsche Bank headquarters during a raid in Frankfurt, The Panama Papers are a
including the 2016 "Pana- Germany, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. trove of documents from a
ma Papers," said Frankfurt Associated Press law firm that handled shell
prosecutors' spokeswoman pers and other documents reporting it, Niesen said. man citizens, are accused companies for thousands
Nadja Niesen. "gave rise to suspicion that In 2016 alone, more than of failing to report the sus- of rich and powerful clients
It is focused on two Deutsche Bank was help- 900 customers are alleged picious transactions even around the world. While
Deutsche Bank employees, ing clients set up so-called to have transferred some though there was "sufficient owning a shell company
aged 50 and 46, and pos- offshore companies in tax 311 million euros ($351 mil- evidence" to have been is not illegal, it is used to
sibly other still unidentified havens and the proceeds lion) to one such company aware of it. hide the beneficial owner
suspects, she said. At least of crimes were transferred set up in the British Virgin Is- Deutsche Bank confirmed of a company or transfer,
one site raided was a sus- there from Deutsche Bank lands, she said. the search and said "the making it important for the
pect's home. accounts" without the bank The suspects, both Ger- investigation has to do with handling and laundering of
Analysis of the Panama Pa- dirty money.q

Italy pressures Egypt anew for answers

in student's killing

an investigation against
seven Egyptian secret ser-
vice members related to
the murder in January 2016
of Giulio Regeni, who was
abducted and tortured
for several days before his
body was left on a desert
highway north of Cairo,
the news agency ANSA
reported, without citing
sources.The launch of a
formal investigation, which
is likely to raise tensions
with Egypt, could come as
soon as next week.
In this Feb. 12, 2016 file photo, the family of Giulio Regeni follow While Egypt is unlikely to
his coffin during the funeral service in Fiumicello, Northern Italy. surrender any suspects,
Associated Press Italy could try any defen-
dants in absentia.
Also Thursday, Italy's lower
By COLLEEN BARRY two years ago. Prosecu- house speaker Roberto
Associated Press tors indicated plans to in- Fico announced the sus-
MILAN (AP) — Italy raised vestigate Egyptian secret pension of relations with
the pressure Thursday on service members and the the Egyptian parliament
Egypt for concrete an- speaker of Italy's lower "until there is a true inves-
swers to the brutal tor- house broke parliamenta- tigation and a trial that
ture and murder of an ry ties with Egypt. brings resolution."q
Italian researcher nearly Prosecutors are set to open