AMSTERDAM, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Dutch prosecutors said on Tuesday they have raided Uber‘s European headquarters in Amsterdam as part of a criminal investigation into whether the company is offering illegal taxi services.
A spokeswoman for the Netherlands’ national financial crimes prosecutor said Uber had previously been fined 450,000 euros by the country’s Transport Inspectorate for allowing unlicensed drivers to offer taxi services through its UberPOP ride-sharing service.
“The suspicion is that they have continued doing that, despite the fine,” Marieke van der Molen said.
Although agents from the Transport Inspectorate raided the company’s offices in March, Van der Moolen said this time prosecutors were involved, and they have seized administrative information.
Prosecutors will decide within “months” whether they will bring charges against the company or individuals working there, she said.
Uber spokesman Gareth Mead said in a statement the company would “continue to cooperate with the Dutch authorities on this ongoing investigation” and that the company’s other services — such as licensed taxi service UberX — were not involved.
Uber is challenging a December 2014 court ruling that found the UberPOP service violates Dutch law.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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