Tag: Inatec
W
Worthwhile Reading: The New Yorker Analyses Of The Wirecard Case
Ben Taub has written a remarkable piece on the Wirecard case in The New Yorker. In contrast to many German-language articles, Taub also sheds light on the beginning and early background of the collapsed German fintech unicorn. He explains that Wirecard's growth was primarily fueled by payment services for gambling and porn. The Wirecard scheme as we know it began with the acquisition of Gateway Payment Solutions from Dietmar Knoechelmann.
M
Merchant Update: High-Risk Payment Processor Payabl With New Domain Taurus21!
FinTelegram recently reported that according to Similarweb statistics, porn sites xHamsterLive and StripChat have disappeared from the top referral sites of the German-Cypriot high-risk payment processor Payabl. The Payabl Group has created a new domain, Taurus21.com, which is now used to handle payment processes with porn and gambling customers. Via Taurus21.com, payable processes the payment traffic from its porn and online gambling merchants.
I
Interesting! Visa Cuddles Up With High-Risk Payment Processor Payabl Despite PornHub Causa!
In August 2022, Visa and Mastercard suspended card payments for TrafficJunky, the advertisement arm of MindGeek, owner of the website PornHub, after a lawsuit raised questions over whether the payment firms have facilitated monetizing child porn and sex trafficking. A federal judge in California rejected Visa's motion to dismiss a lawsuit by a woman who alleges the company facilitated the distribution of child porno on PornHub and other websites run by MindGeek.
W
Wirecard Trial #3: Wirecard Was A Fraud System And A Cancer!
On Day 3 of the Wirecard Trial, the prosecution's key witness, Oliver Bellenhaus, is called to testify. The former director of the Wirecard business in Dubai speaks quietly and extremely quickly. He wants to get his testimony over with as quickly as possible and avoids any eye contact. In essence, he confirms what he has already said during the questioning at the public prosecutor's office. The TPA system was a big fraud, audit data was faked, and Wirecard was a cancer, Bellenhaus told the court.
P
Popcorn Days: Wirecard Trial Starts With Open Questions About Its Shadow Structure!
The Wirecard trial begins on 8 Dec 2022. The main question will be: Who is responsible for the scandal? Markus Braun, the founder and former CEO, Oliver Bellenhaus, managing director of Wirecard Dubai, and the former head of accounting, Stephan von Erffa have to answer critical questions! Braun and his accomplices are alleged to have operated Wirecard as a criminal organization, the indictment says. The court has scheduled 100 days of hearings. In an underground courtroom.
T
The Untold Story From Wirecard And Powercash21 To Payabl
The Powercash21 scheme is already over 20 years old and was created parallel to the collapsed Wirecard. At that time, the buzzword fintech was not even known. The domain www.powercash21.com was registered in 2000 by Ruediger Trautmann even before he became COO of Wirecard in 2005. From 2001, the website was operated by the German Inatec Group. Among others, the former Wirecard manager Dietmar Kuhl acted as managing director at Inatec. In or around 2011, the Cyprus-registered Powercash21 Limited then took over the website's operation.
W
Wirecard Legacy: High-Risk Payment Processor Payabl. And Its Business Model!
While the former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun is waiting for his trial in Germany, the insolvency administrator, Michael Jaffé, is trying to shed light on the scandal and claims damages against the former management and partners. In June 2022, he secured over €220 million from a subsidiary. Meanwhile, high-risk payment processor Payabl, founded and run by former Wirecard top executives, is thriving and promoting itself in an aggressive Wirecard-style on social media.
I
Impressive! Payment Processor Payabl Numbers Exploded Powered By Adult Business And Gambling!
The Similarweb September statistics came out and show that the number of visitors to the website of Cypriot-German payment processor Payabl (formerly PowerCash21) increased tenfold in Q3 2022 - from just under 15,000 to almost 140,000. Similarweb says that more than 55% of website traffic has been sourced from porn sites and just under 35% from gambling, betting, and lottery sites. Payabl is thus likely to have replaced the collapsed Wirecard in Germany as the high-risk payment processor, Similarweb suggests!
I
Introducing The Other Wire Card
The German Ruediger Trautmann was Wirecard’s COO between 2005 to 2010. According to the Zatarra Report, Trautmann incorporated numerous undisclosed companies in the Wirecard scheme during his tenure. One of these satellite companies was Wire Card UK Limited, where he served as a director from 2006 until its dissolution in 2010. This Wire Card UK did not belong to the German Wirecard Group but was part of the scheme. The similarity of the names was probably no coincidence.
T
The Fight Of Former Wirecard Managers Against FinTelegram!
While new money laundering allegations against the Wirecard scheme put the collapsed German fintech into the limelight again, the business of former Wirecard managers and partners seems to flourish. Around 2010, former Wirecard managers and partners Ruediger Trautmann, Dietmar Knoechelmann, his wife Ayelet Fruchtlander Knoechelmann, together with Frank Schoonbaert, and Nissim Zarfati established Payabl Group (previously PowerCash21). Here is another update!
F
FINMA-Licensed Klarpay Is Focused On Digital Merchants And Influencers!
Klarpay claims to be the first FINMA-licensed Swiss fintech to work exclusively with e-commerce, digital merchants, and social media influencers offering cross-border payment acceptance and remittance solutions, including access to multi-currency IBAN accounts, global payment acceptance, and digital disbursement services. Founded in 2019 by the BDSwiss co-founder Mihkel Vitsur, Klarpay was one of the first Swiss fintech's obtaining a banking license under the news Small Banks Regime. Here is our initial review.