Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt headquarters and Berlin office got an unexpected midweek visitor party this week: federal prosecutors and police, armed with search warrants instead of briefcases.
In what must feel like déjà vu for the bank’s security team, officials swooped in on Wednesday to probe suspicions that the institution once again failed to spot—or report—some suspiciously creative money movements through past dealings with foreign companies.
The raids come just as Deutsche Bank was gearing up to unveil what turned out to be record profits for 2025, turning what should have been a champagne moment into something closer to a cold shower. Nothing says “great quarter” like investigators combing through filing cabinets the day before results day.
Prosecutors from Frankfurt, teaming up with the Federal Criminal Police Office, are looking into “unknown individuals and employees” at Germany’s biggest bank. The focus? Historical business relationships with overseas firms that later came under suspicion for money laundering.
Details remain scarce—officials are playing their cards close, refusing to name names, specify transactions, or reveal the scale. Deutsche Bank confirmed the searches happened and said it is cooperating fully, the financial equivalent of saying “we’re happy to help while quietly sweating.”
German media couldn’t resist linking the probe to sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, whose name tends to pop up in these stories like a bad penny. His lawyers fired back swiftly, calling any connection “entirely false and inaccurate,” insisting Abramovich has zero involvement, isn’t under investigation, and that dragging his name in was just a cheap way to grab headlines.
They added that the real issue appears to be Deutsche Bank’s alleged tardiness in filing required anti-money laundering reports—hardly the stuff of international intrigue, but enough to warrant a warrant.
This isn’t the bank’s first rodeo with uninvited guests in pinstripes. Back in 2018, some 170 officers turned up at the Frankfurt HQ and other spots over similar concerns about offshore shenanigans between 2013 and 2018. History, it seems, has a habit of repeating itself at Deutsche Bank, especially when paperwork is involved.
The timing couldn’t be more awkward. The bank has spent years scrubbing its image after a string of scandals, fines, and regulatory headaches. Just when things were looking up—record earnings announced Thursday—the spotlight swings back to compliance questions. Shareholders might find it less amusing than the rest of us.
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