Germany’s rich raided in tax evasion scandal
Authorities have raided the homes and offices of hundreds of wealthy Germans in a €3.4m tax evasion scandal
German investigators, prosecutors and police yesterday searched the homes and
offices of hundreds of wealthy people in the financial centres of Frankfurt,
Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Ulm after revelations the German government had
lost €3.4bn (£2.5bn) in tax evasion.
The country’s millionaires and executives are suspected of being involved in
transferring vast sums to a bank and foundations in Liechtenstein, the tax haven
between Switzerland and Austria, The Times reports.
So far, only Klaus Zumwinkel, the former chief executive of
Deutsche
Post, who is facing criminal charges, has been named. He reportedly has
confessed to using the Liechtenstein scheme to evade paying more than €1m in
tax.
Investigators, who expect to conduct more than 125 searches by the end of
this week, said more than 1,000 people were suspected of tax evasion and it was
only ‘a question of time’ before more prominent names would be revealed.
Planning for the police operation, a joint effort between the chancellor’s
office and the Finance Ministry, has been under way since 2006.
Further reading:
Germany paid for evasion tax disc
Germans face offshore tax probe