COLOGNE/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – In connection with the scandal surrounding cum-ex tax deals at the expense of the state treasury, investigators searched the offices of the auditing and consulting company KPMG in Frankfurt. The public prosecutor’s office in Cologne is executing search warrants against a consulting company in Frankfurt, the authority announced on Wednesday on request. In addition, the private homes of five lawyers and tax consultants (formerly) employed there, who the public prosecutor’s office led as suspects, would also be searched.
“The measures are related to cum-ex transactions that are the subject of the proceedings and related tax evasion models,” the authority said. In particular, it is about finding relevant communication in the form of e-mails and other written correspondence. About 60 prosecutors, tax investigators and police officers were involved in the search. KPMG confirmed that the Frankfurt branch had been visited by the public prosecutor. “We are fully cooperating with the authorities,” the company said. The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported on it.
In the case of “cum-ex” transactions, blocks of shares were shifted back and forth by several participants around the dividend record date with (“cum”) and without (“ex”) a right to a dividend. As a result, tax offices reimbursed capital gains taxes that had not been paid at all. The state suffered billions in damage.
The investigations into cum-ex offenses, in which banks were also involved, are in full swing. The first criminal proceedings ended with convictions./mar/DP/stw