Wirecard Trial Star Witness Blames CEO for ‘Massive Criminal Act’

The former lead of Wirecard’s Dubai subsidiary admitted his complicity Monday inward the widescale method of accounting put-on that led to the spectacular cave in of the German language fintech giant. But he pointed the fingerbreadth at his codefendant, ex-CEO Markus Braun.

Oliver Bellenhaus told a Muenchen courtroom Eva Braun was an “autocratic chief executive” who was possessed(p) with creating the phantasy that Wirecard was to a greater extent successful than it really was.

This is the ongoing trial of three former Wirecard executives, who German language prosecutors incriminate of committing a “massive criminal act” that led to the demise of the payments company.

Wirecard began lifetime inwards the 1990s as a processor of online play and porn transactions. It grew into the leading illuminate of German language fintech, with a marketplace crest of €22 1000000000 ($25 billion) inwards 2018. But all was not as it seemed.

Missing $2B

In June 2020, auditor Max Ernst & Danton True Young reported that €1.9 1000000000000 (US$2 billion) inward immediate payment balances mentioned inwards Wirecards’ accounts appeared to live missing. This money was supposed to follow sitting inwards trustee accounts at ii Philippine banks, but the banks denied Wirecard was a client.

Days later, the accompany admitted the money was missing and “likely ne'er existed.”

The defendants in the pillowcase human face charges including fraud, embezzlement, and market manipulation and could follow jailed for upward to 15 years if convicted. They are accused of preparation the books to artificially inflate the company’s value and defraud investors and lenders.

Bellenhaus told the courtroom he deep regrets his behavior, adding that he acted out of dim trueness to Braun.

“Braun gave the marching orders and everyone followed,” he said.

Last week, Braun’s lawyer, Alfred the Great Dierlamm, described Bellenhaus as an unreliable find and accused him of being the main culprit of the fraud, along with Jan Marsalek, who is currently a fugitive.

‘Shadow Operation’

Dierlamm said his client was unaware of the accounting irregularities, adding that Bellenhaus and Marsalek were running a “shadow operation” that siphoned sour money into racing shell accounts.

Dierlamm also noted his client was the company’s biggest shareholder and had ne'er sold his shares – inward fact, he had increased his holding shortly before the company’s collapse. This demonstrated he had not attempted to gain in person from the inflated part value and appeared oblivious to impending catastrophe.

Dierlamm contends that High German prosecutors were below force per unit area to regain a whipping boy for the fraud because Marsalek has slipped through and through their grasp.

Marsalek fled Germany as Wirecard collapsed, traveling to Byelorussia and so onto Moscow. He is believed to feature connections to Russian intelligence information agencies.