German police raid 20 offices and law firm inAdler Real Estate probe

Adler Real Estate was searched by German police on Wednesday, a spokesperson for its majority owner Adler Group said, adding that it was co-operating with an investigation.

Frankfurt prosecutors said that 20 offices and apartments, as well as a law firm in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg and Britain were searched.

About 175 people from the public prosecutor's office and the federal police were involved, they said in a statement.

German, Austrian and British nationals between the ages of 38 and 66 are under suspicion of false accounting, market manipulation and breach of trust, the prosecutors added.

Several current and former board members of Berlin-headquartered Adler Real Estate are suspected of misrepresenting balance sheets or supporting others in doing so between 2018 and 2020, the prosecutors said.

They are also suspected of making fictitious transactions to drive up prices for projects and achieve a favourable loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, sending false signals to capital markets, the Frankfurt prosecutors said in the statement.

The Adler Group spokesperson said that none of the parent company's board members were under investigation.

Germany’s financial regulator BaFin had no comment.

Adler, one of Germany's biggest landlords, has been embroiled in an accounting investigation following accusations by short sellers in 2021 that the company's balance sheet had been artificially inflated.

Auditors from KPMG had refused to give Adler Group an audit certificate for the 2021 annual financial statements, citing a lack of information on transactions with persons related to Adler, and also refused to accept the mandate for 2022.

Reuters