Dutch financial services regulator AFM raided the Amsterdam offices of TomTom on Tuesday, to investigate allegations of insider trading by a senior financial executive.

A team of 20 investigators were involved with the raid at Rembrandt Square.

Although TomTom refused to comment in detail, it emphasized that the executive in question is not a board member and that it had no indication this person had insider information.

TomTom rode the wave in the first part of this decade, but ran into trouble after buying digital mapmaker Tele Atlas for €2.9bn near the height of the merger boom in 2007. Last year shares of TomTom at the Dutch AEX Stock Index dropped from €40 to just €3.

This summer, TomTom wanted to raise €430m by selling new shares to alleviate its heavy debt burden. A stake of at least €100m was sold to Cyrte Investments BV - a Dutch technology investor - and Janivo Holding BV, a vehicle of the Netherlands' de Pont family.

Although in Q2 revenues for the GPS firm dropped 24 per cent for the quarter compared to the same quarter in 2008, shares of TomTom have risen 173 per cent this year as TomTom unveiled new software for the Apple iPhone and launched its HD Traffic service on mid-range PNDs.

TomTom says it will fully cooperate with the investigation. ®

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