Germany searches Ryanair offices over suspected tax fraud

German investigators have searched Ryanair offices at six airports across the country, including Berlin and Cologne, as part of an investigation into possible tax evasion, prosecutors said today.
State prosecutors and customs officials also searched several pilots' homes as part of the raids on Tuesday, Hans Peter Gandner, senior prosecutor in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, told AFP.
The searches were part of an investigation into two British temp agencies that supply self-employed pilots to Ryanair and not directed against the airline itself, Gandner said.
The temp agencies stand accused of tax evasion and withholding salaries, while several pilots are suspected of being complicit in the scheme and of fraud against the social security system.

Ryanair "has met the German tax authorities and agreed to support them in their inquiries into a few contractor pilots," airline spokesman Robin Kiely said.