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Manipulated slot machines are said to have stored wrong numbers for the tax (symbolic photo)
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck/ dpa
The police and tax investigators carried out a raid on operators of arcades in several federal states on Tuesday.
The accused are said to have manipulated the reading data from slot machines for years in order to pay less tax, according to the public prosecutor and the police in Bochum.
Accordingly, there were eight arrests.
With the help of the manipulated gaming machines, the accused operators of various arcades are said to have regularly corrected their sales significantly downwards.
They operated the arcades through a network of companies based in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia.
The alleged fraud caused a total tax loss in the double-digit million range.
Assets confiscated 12 times
A "large number" of suspects are therefore being investigated, among other things, on suspicion of tax evasion and forgery.
There were around 70 searches in Bavaria, Brandenburg, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein.
In addition, twelve property arrests were carried out.
With an asset arrest, investigators secure assets at an early stage if it appears possible that the accused will no longer be able to pay a fine or damages later, when their guilt has been proven.
mamk/dpa