- Title: Deutsche Bank under investigation for money laundering scandal
- Date: 25th September 2019
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF DEUTSCHE BANK
- Embargoed: 9th October 2019 15:40
- Keywords: Deutsche Bank Danske Banks Estonia Frankfurt money laundering
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY / TALLINN, ESTONIA
- City: FRANKFURT, GERMANY / TALLINN, ESTONIA
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA001AY5MD1P
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German authorities have been in the process of seeking information at Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt headquarters since Tuesday in relation to Danske Bank and a money laundering scandal, Frankfurt prosecutors said on Wednesday.
They are investigating whether Deutsche alerted authorities about suspicious transactions quickly enough, the prosecutors said.
The search, which is still ongoing, involves three prosecutors and nine agents from Germany's federal criminal police. Prosecutors said the bank was cooperating.
Danske Bank is under investigation in several countries, including the United States, Denmark, Britain and Estonia, over suspicious payments totalling 200 billion euros ($220 billion) moved through its tiny Estonian branch. Deutsche Bank acted as a correspondent bank for Danske.
Prosecutors said the period in question is 2014 to 2018, and that there was a suspect who worked at the bank during that period.
Deutsche Bank had alerted authorities to 1.1 million suspicious transactions, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said that a double-digit number of transactions, with a volume of 12.5 million euros, were either registered by Deutsche too late with authorities, or the bank should have blocked them from the start.
Deutsche Bank has previously faced issues over money laundering and the controls in place to prevent it.
Last year, dozens of police raided six Deutsche Bank offices in and around Frankfurt over money laundering allegations linked to the "Panama Papers."
Germany's financial market watchdog BaFin last year ordered Deutsche to do more to prevent money laundering.
In 2017, Deutsche Bank was fined nearly $700 million for artificial trades between Moscow, London and New York that could have been used for money laundering. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice is still ongoing. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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