Commerzbank offices searched as part of tax evasion investigation
GERMAN prosecutors searched Commerzbank offices yesterday, looking for evidence that a foreign life insurance company may have helped German investors evade taxes.
State prosecutors in Bochum said around 270 tax officials searched the bank’s headquarters and branches across Germany, looking into the sale of wealth management products “disguised” as tax-efficient life insurance policies.
“The aim was to enable clients to avoid tax on investment income,” the prosecutors said in a statement.
Commerzbank said yesterday that its offices were searched as part of the investigation and said it was cooperating fully with authorities.
“The investigations are not directed at the bank but at individual employees at another financial services provider,” a Commerzbank spokesman said, declining to give further detail.
The raids are the latest in a series by German prosecutors investigating tax evasion.