German police raids tied to welfare fraud, illegal gambling

BERLIN (AP) — Around 600 investigators have searched 31 buildings in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and police arrested a family of four in connection with alleged money laundering, organized crime and welfare fraud. Police and special units from the state office that investigates organized crime arrested a 46-year-old man, his 42-year-old wife and the couple’s 24- and 28-year-old sons on Tuesday at the family’s mansion in the city of Leverkusen. Police said the family is accused of defrauding North Rhine-Westphalia of about $487,000 in social welfare benefits while living in the million-euro house. In a separate operation, several hundred police officers searched a hotel in Berlin as part of an illegal gambling investigation.