Raid on relatives of Hanno Berger

Dusseldorf Hanno Berger is considered the most important head in Germany’s biggest tax scandal. The tax attorney has been in court for his involvement in cum-ex deals since April. The public prosecutor’s office has now extended the investigation to his relatives.

According to information from the Handelsblatt, the house in Zuoz, Switzerland, where Berger lived with his wife before his arrest, was searched.

The raid also targeted his daughter’s apartment and the Berger property in Schluechtern in south-east Hesse, as well as various rooms of possible witnesses. The suspicion is money laundering.

Berger is said to have earned at least 50 million euros with Cum-Ex. The Latin term refers to a method of stock trading in which those involved had more taxes refunded than they paid. Berger, formerly a tax officer himself and later a star lawyer for very wealthy people, was considered a master of such business.