State prosecutors from the central German city of Koblenz have raided six Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) bases across the country amid allegations of income tax evasion as well as failure to pay social security dues.
Germany's Die Zeit newspaper reports at least thirty-five prosecutors and customs officials raided Ryanair's Berlin Schönefeld, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf Weeze, Frankfurt Hahn, Bremen Hans Koschnick and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden bases this morning questioning flight crews before seizing their computers, iPads, schedules and other personal documents.
The raids are part of an investigation into Brookfield Aviation and McGinley Aviation, two UK-based employment agencies tasked with providing Ryanair with pilots, which stand accused of withholding pilots’ salaries and taxes. The pilots, for their part, are accused of failing to make adequate social security contributions.
Authorities state they are also investigating the carrier's policy of not directly employing personnel which allows it significant cost-savings both in terms of tax as well as other associated overheads.
The carrier has, for its part, said it is cooperating with the authorities while underlining that it itself is not "the subject of any tax investigations.”
