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BUSINESS

Europe-wide raids as German property giant probed

Authorities on Wednesday raided properties in seven European countries as part of an investigation into alleged accounting fraud at German real estate giant Adler, the company and prosecutors said.

Adler Real Estate
Adler Real Estate is written on a postbox in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

Twenty-one sites, including business premises, apartments and a lawyer’s office, were searched in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg and Britain, prosecutors in Frankfurt said.

About 175 German police took part in the raids against the group, which is listed in Frankfurt and has a particularly strong presence in Germany.

Prosecutors said the raids targeted a “company in the real estate industry”, and Adler later confirmed it was the subject of the searches.

READ ALSO: Ex-Wirecard CEO starts trial over ‘unparalleled’ fraud

Ex-board members of Adler, who are German, Austrian and English nationals aged between 38 and 66, are under investigation, the prosecutors said.

They are accused of having misrepresented, or having aided in the misrepresentation of the company’s balance sheets between 2018 and 2020, prosecutors said.

They also face other accusations, including that they sought to dishonestly drive up prices for projects.

Investigations began after short seller Viceroy Research published a report in 2021 alleging that the company was trying to “hide its true financial position, which is bleak”.

Adler at the time denied the report.

German financial watchdog Bafin then took up the case and uncovered a number of irregularities.

In a statement Wednesday, Adler said it was “cooperating with the authorities and fully supports a clarification of the facts as quickly as possible.”

The company has been in turmoil since the allegations emerged, with its shares losing more than 95 percent of their value in Frankfurt.

They slid another two percent Wednesday after news of the raids broke.

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CRIME

German Die Linke politician attacked in Thuringia

A politician from Germany's socialist Die Linke party was insulted and attacked in a supermarket in Eisenberg, Thuringia on Friday.

German Die Linke politician attacked in Thuringia

At the supermarket checkout, a man insulted the party’s state election candidate Steffen Much without reason and grabbed him by his T-shirt, the party’s regional association said on Saturday.

Much was unharmed, according to party sources, and filed a police report against the attacker, who he knew.

“I am glad that Steffen Much was not physically harmed,” said the co-chairman of the Left Party’s regional association, Christian Schaft.

“Insults and attacks like these are intended to intimidate everyone who is committed to an open and democratic society.”

There have been several attacks on politicians across the country recently.

READ ALSO: German far-right AfD candidate attacked with knife in Mannheim

The Thuringia state elections take place on 1 September.

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