An extensive investigation is being conducted against a large number of suspects from all over Germany, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, told local news magazine Wirtschaftswoche.
The prosecutor’s office said there are suspicions that “income from investments” at UBS (Luxembourg), now known as UBS Europe SE, had not been properly declared for income and inheritance tax purposes.
UBS told the German publication that it is “cooperating fully” with the investigation.
Leaked data
The raids are understood to stem from a CD that the North Rhine-Westphalia government bought in 2014 that contains details of UBS clients suspected of evading taxes.
In recent years, the bank has been a regular target for regulators and paid €300m (£263m, $354m) in 2014 to settle claims that it helped wealthy Germans dodge taxes.
In February 2016, a Belgian judge charged UBS with money laundering and organised tax evasion, after it reportedly sought out clients with the intention of helping them evade taxes.
The following September, French tax authorities requested details of 45,161 UBS bank accounts as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud.
In March this year, Switzerland’s Supreme Court ruled that the government can comply with the French request, despite the information probably being founded on stolen data.
