German Deutsche Bank has been prosecuted after being accused of involvement in money laundering for a member of the Assad family in Syria.

The Deutsche Welle newspaper reported that prosecutors, the Baffin Financial Supervision Authority, and the Federal Office for Crime Prevention had raided the bank's headquarters in the city of Frankfurt.

The raid took place after evidence was received that the bank was involved in financial transactions and money laundering for Rifat al-Assad, the uncle of Syrian regime president Bashar al-Assad.