FRANKFURT, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank on Wednesday said its Frankfurt headquarters were being searched by prosecutors probing a tax evasion scheme involving the trading of carbon permits.

In October, Deutsche suspended a handful of employees after it was criticised by a judge last year during a trial into tax evasion on carbon permits, a financial source familiar with the matter said.

Last year, a German court sentenced six men to jail for participating in a conspiracy to evade around 300 million euros ($387 million) in value-added tax (VAT) on carbon permits between August 2009 and April 2010.

The judge said at the time the way Deutsche Bank conducted emissions trading with some of the convicted men had left the door open for tax evasion.

(Reporting By Alexander Huebner) Keywords: DEUTSCHEBANK PROSECUTORS/

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