Four New York-based employees of the financial powerhouse Deutsche Bank have been fired after they allegedly tried to expense a night out at a strip club in violation of company policy.
Ben Darsney, former Americas head of equity capital markets, was fired alongside Ravi Raghunathan, Brandon Sun and Daniel Gaona, after attempting to expense the night out as a legitimate restaurant visit, according to Bloomberg.
Darsney, 40, had worked for Deutsche Bank since 2010. He did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com on Sunday.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman told DailyMail.com in a statement: ‘Deutsche Bank thoroughly investigates allegations of possible misconduct comprehensively and without bias.’
Brandon Sun was a director in the financial institutions group at Deutsche Bank. He was not accused of attending the strip club, but of alleged involvement in the expense report
A Deutsche Bank spokesman told DailyMail.com in a statement: ‘Deutsche Bank thoroughly investigates allegations of possible misconduct comprehensively and without bias’
‘We do not condone violations of our Code of Conduct or Company Policy,’ the statement added.
‘When required by the facts and circumstances, we take appropriate remedial action.’
The bank declined to comment further on the circumstances of the incident, but an insider told DailyMail.com that there were no allegations of harassment involved and the incident was not related to business activity.
Even going to a strip club with colleagues is a violation of Deutsche Bank’s company policy, and the error was allegedly compounded by attempting to expense the trip, and then by efforts to cover up the incident.
According to the New York Post, Darsney and Raghunathan, the managing director who ran most of the bank’s SPAC business, took colleagues and a client to an unidentified strip club in February.
Others who were fired in the incident may have been accused of trying to cover up the expense report.
‘People got fired who weren’t at said event but lied and participated in coverup,’ an insider told The Post.
‘Everyone was very well-regarded, which made it hard,’ the person added of Deutsche’s decision to fire the men.
Darsney and Raghunathan, the managing director who ran most of the bank’s SPAC business, allegedly took colleagues and a client to an unidentified strip club in February (stock image)
Raghunathan, Sun, and Gaona could not be reached for comment by DailyMail.com and did not respond to inquiries from Bloomberg and the Post.
Sun, a director in the financial institutions group at Deutsche Bank, was not accused of attending the strip club, but was allegedly involved in the expense report.
According to the Post, the charges involved in the incident amounted to less than $1,000.
The strip-club incident comes as Deutsche Bank pushes to put a greater emphasis on company culture and compliance.
Deutsche Bank said on Friday it had promoted its finance chief James von Moltke to the role of deputy chief executive officer.
Von Moltke will be the second of two deputies, serving along with Karl von Rohr, who has been in the role since 2018. He will also remain CFO.
Von Moltke joined Deutsche as CFO five years ago and has played a key role in the bank’s overhaul by keeping a tight lid on costs and communicating with investors and the public.
‘This gives us the right governance structure to succeed in the long term in this time of increasing complexity and volatility,’ Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said.
In 2019, Deutsche Bank embarked on a major restructuring that involved cutting 18,000 staff and exiting some businesses.
Last year, the bank delivered its most profitable year in a decade, its second consecutive annual profit following years of losses.