German dating company LOVOO has confirmed that the arrest warrants for its two Managing Directors have now been repealed.
Last week, Benjamin Bak and Alexander Friede were taken into investigative custody when the company’s offices in Dresden and Berlin were stormed by armed police over allegations of fraud.
Speaking out about the incident this week, LOVOO confirmed the raids were in connection with allegations of customer deception made about the company by an anonymous source back in September 2015.
During the raids, officers seized computers and mobile phones from the premises, and a further twelve employees between the ages of 25 and 38 were also said to have been accused of commercial deception.
The allegations, made public by computer magazine c’t, said the brand used fake profiles to entice customers into paying for the dating site’s premium service.
According to the magazine, the report was based on a set of alleged emails sent between LOVOO’s leadership that were then leaked to the news site by an anonymous source.
Both Bak and Friede were then questioned by the custodial judge in Dresden on Monday, and ultimately released from investigative custody yesterday.
And the social and dating giant has just released a statement assuring its full cooperation with the investigative authorities, and guaranteeing its full transparency.
It said: “In the light of the ongoing investigations, further details cannot be released at this time. LOVOO GmbH will continue to regularly report on the status as much as permissible.
“LOVOO Germany’s most successful dating app will continue to work on clarifying the accusations and to rebuild confidence of its more than 50 million users.”
Find out more about the allegations here.