German branches searched in tax evasion inquiry

Berlin:  Police searched all 13 branches of Swiss bank Credit Suisse AG in Germany yesterday in an investigation of suspected tax evasion, prosecutors said.

Some 140 officers searched branches in Berlin, Duesseldorf, Munich and other German cities based on findings from a recently bought CD containing data documenting alleged tax evasion via Switzerland, Duesseldorf prosecutor Johannes Mocken said.

Prosecutors suspect unidentified employees of Credit Suisse of being accessories to tax evasion.

Germany has opened 1,100 tax evasion cases based on the CD, Mocken said. He couldn't give any further information on the searches since they were still ongoing.

A spokesman for Credit Suisse in Zurich said the bank was cooperating in the investigation with local authorities in Germany.

"We confirm that the German offices of Credit Suisse [Deutschland] AG are being searched," Marc Dosch said.