Homes Raided Nationwide in German Tax Fraud Probe

The fallout from Germany's enormous tax evasion scandal continued yesterday as police began a nationwide raid of the homes and offices of over a hundred people. More than 1,000 rich Germans are suspected of cheating the German treasury out of $5 billion by transferring huge sums to banks and dummy foundations in the tax haven of Liechtenstein. So far the biggest casualty of the affair has been the CEO of Deutsche Post, Europe's largest mail service and the owner of shipping company DHL.

The crackdown began after German intelligence got a tipoff from a man believed to work for a Liechtenstein bank—whom the authorities paid $6.2 million for his trouble. Planning for the operation has been underway since 2006. Investigators say it is only "a question of time" before even more prominent names come to light. (More Germany stories.)