financial service providers
Wirecard key witness confirms the charge: business invented
In the Munich Wirecard trial, the key witness for the public prosecutor’s office comprehensively confirmed the central allegation of the prosecution: the alleged billions in sales of the group that collapsed in 2020 with “third-party partners” in the Middle East and Asia were therefore fictitious.
In the Munich Wirecard trial, the former Wirecard manager and key witness, Oliver Bellenhaus, comprehensively confirmed the prosecution’s central allegation: the group’s alleged billions in sales were therefore fictitious. (archive image)
The former Wirecard manager Oliver Bellenhaus described in detail the falsification of business contracts and sales on Wednesday. “Of course we came up with that,” said Bellenhaus on the sixth day of the trial about the billions in trust accounts in Southeast Asia.
When asked by the court whether the third-party business existed, Bellenhaus said: “I answer very clearly: no.” The payment service provider had filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2020 because 1.9 billion euros allegedly booked in said trust accounts could not be found.
The “third-party partners” were companies that allegedly processed credit card payments on behalf of Wirecard in countries where the Bavarian group itself did not have a corresponding license.
The only goal was to deceive the auditors. “The auditor needed something, and then the panic ensued,” said Bellenhaus. “It was a huge mess, it was all chaos.” CEO Markus Braun never asked when he signed – fake – contracts.
According to the indictment, Braun, Bellenhaus and the former head of accounting have falsified Wirecard’s balance sheets since 2015 and damaged lending banks by 3.1 billion euros.
(SDA)