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Tag: Markus Braun

Court Cases

February 12, 2025

EXPECTED: Munich prosecutors drop some charges against ex-Wirecard CEO Markus Braun!

Munich prosecutors have streamlined their case against former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun by dropping several charges. This strategic move aims to expedite the trial, which has been ongoing since December 2022. While charges related to falsifying 2015 results and multiple counts of market manipulation have been dropped, Braun still faces serious allegations including falsifying 2016-2018 financial results and defrauding banks of €1.75 billion.

February 11, 2025

Jan Marsalek: From Wirecard COO to Russian Spy—The Fugitive Who Outsmarted Europe!

Jan Marsalek, born on March 15, 1980, in Vienna, Austria, served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Wirecard from 2010 until its collapse in 2020. An Austrian citizen, Marsalek was instrumental in expanding Wirecard's operations, particularly in Asia. However, his tenure ended in scandal when it was revealed that approximately €1.9 billion were missing from the company's accounts, leading to its insolvency.

December 9, 2024

Wirecard Scandal Reignites: Markus Braun’s Release Demanded Amid Espionage Revelations

In light of recent court findings across multiple jurisdictions, it has become increasingly clear that the ongoing trial of former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun may be fundamentally flawed. The crux of this issue lies in the apparent failure to fully incorporate the now-established activities of fugitive ex-COO Jan Marsalek into the proceedings. This not only jeopardizes the fairness of Braun's trial but also risks obscuring the true nature and extent of the Wirecard scandal.

September 5, 2024

Former Wirecard Executives Ordered to Pay €140 Million in Damages

A Munich court has found Markus Braun, the former CEO of Wirecard, along with Alexander von Knoop, former CFO, and Susanne Steidl, former chief product officer, personally liable for €140 million in damages. This decision comes after a long-running civil suit filed by Michael Jaffé, the administrator of Wirecard, over the executives’ roles in issuing unsecured loans to allegedly fraudulent business partners in Asia.

September 4, 2024

Wirecard Trial: Ex-Wirecard CEO Markus Braun Remains in Custody During the Ongoing Trial!

The former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun remains in custody. The trial, which is one of the largest financial fraud cases in Germany's history, also includes defendants Oliver Bellenhaus and Stephan von Erffa. The judges also justified the decision with the risk of flight and obstruction of justice. The value of the Wirecard trial remains questionable in view of the activities of the fugitive former board member Jan Marsalek, which have since been uncovered.

August 30, 2024

Wirecard Case: Former Auditor EY Faces €350 Million Collateral Demand in Wirecard Litigation!

Since December 2022, former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun and two former executives, Oliver Bellenhaus and Stephan von Erffa, have faced charges, including falsifying the group's balance sheets. According to the German prosecutors, the so-called third-party acquirer (TPA) "did not actually exist." The former COO Jan Marsalek remains on the run. Meanwhile, former auditor EY faces massive lawsuits.

August 6, 2024

New Indictments in Wirecard Case: Former Executives Charged with Breach of Trust

The Wirecard trials in Germany continue unperturbed despite the confusion surrounding the espionage affair involving former Management Board member Jan Marsalek. Four years after Wirecard collapsed, former chief financial officer Alexander von Knoop and former chief product officer Susanne Steidl have been charged with breach of trust. The charges are part of the ongoing investigation into one of Europe’s largest accounting scandals.

July 5, 2024

Wirecard & The Forsyth Twist: Russian Espionage Allegations and Implications for CEO Markus Braun’s Trial!

As the trial of former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun unfolds in Munich, a new twist in the Wirecard saga emerges, intertwining financial scandal with espionage intrigue. Recent revelations by Austrian law enforcement have uncovered that Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former COO of Wirecard, allegedly paid €500,000 to "Austrian spies" in September 2017. This discovery has profound implications for the ongoing trial and raises questions about the extent of Russian involvement in the Wirecard collapse.

June 13, 2024

Wirecard Trial: Millions in Uncashed Checks Discovered in Office Cabinets

The ongoing Wirecard trial continues to captivate with its unfolding drama and astonishing revelations. In a surprising turn, millions of euros in uncashed checks were discovered in office cabinets at Wirecard's headquarters following the company's collapse. This shocking detail emerged during the testimony of witness Tatyana Teodorovich, who painted a chaotic picture of the financial operations at Wirecard.

June 11, 2024

Wirecard Case: Markus Braun’s New Defense Lawyer Demands Inclusion of Espionage Allegations!

It had to happen. In the only reasonable twist, the Wirecard trial has seen a significant shift with the resignation of star defense lawyer Alfred Dierlamm. Reportedly, Dierlamm resigned due to financial constraints, leaving the defense of Markus Braun, the accused CEO of the collapsed Wirecard, in the hands of a new advocate, Theres Kraußlach. She has requested that the criminal file of fugitive Jan Marsalek be included.

June 5, 2024

No Money, No Honey: Ex-Wirecard Boss Markus Braun Loses Main Defense Lawyer!

One thing is crystal clear in the convoluted labyrinth of justice: nothing works without money. This truth has become glaringly evident in the ongoing fraud trial of former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun. Braun lost his main defense attorney due to financial constraints as the bankruptcy scandal unfolds. Attorney Alfred Dierlamm resigned from the case, citing the exhaustion of the fee budget provided by the manager liability insurance.

April 4, 2024

The Wirecard Scandal: A Spectacular Espionage Drama Unfolds Around The Arrest of a Former Secret Service Agent!

In a plot twist worthy of a Cold War spy novel, the Wirecard saga has morphed from a run-of-the-mill financial scandal into an international espionage thriller. At the center of this intrigue is the elusive Jan Marsalek, the company's former COO, now painted as a mastermind spy for Russia, and the beleaguered ex-CEO Markus Braun, ensnared in a Munich courtroom drama that reads more like fiction than reality. The impact of the latest revelations around Marsalek on the Munich trial is not yet evident.

The Unraveling of Rabidi and the Rise of the SoftSwiss Network: Our Updated Forensic Report

A few months ago, FinTelegram released a first forensic report on the bankruptcy of Rabidi N.V., a Curacao-registered online casino operator with hundreds of millions in revenues — and no traceable assets by the time of its collapse in May 2024. That report already raised serious questions about the opaque structures behind Rabidi’s operations and its successor, Liernin Enterprises Ltd.

DeFi Decoded: Smart Contracts – The Code Behind the DeFi Revolution

Smart contracts are the invisible architects of decentralized finance. These self-executing lines of code run everything from token swaps to lending platforms without middlemen. But while they offer autonomy, they also introduce new risks—bugs, exploits, and irreversible mistakes. In this fourth installment of our FinTelegram DeFi Series, we explain what smart contracts are.

CFTC

Despite New Crypto Friendlyness: No Settlement Between U.S. CFTC And KuCoin?

A planned settlement between the U.S.CFTC and crypto exchange KuCoin is now in limbo due to a reported policy shift within the CFTC. This change is attributed to the Trump administration’s new approach, which deprioritizes enforcement actions against crypto companies. As a result, a CFTC attorney said that it is "unlikely that such authorization will be granted in the near term" regarding the settlement approval.

SEC’s New Era: Paul Atkins Sworn In—Will Crypto Finally Get the Regulatory Clarity It Deserves?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has entered a new chapter with the swearing-in of Paul S. Atkins as its 34th Chairman, a move widely anticipated to mark a dramatic pivot in how the agency approaches crypto and DeFi regulation. For years, the financial industry—especially the burgeoning digital asset sector—has bristled under the SEC’s “Regulation by Enforcement” strategy.

Crypto Mogul Changpeng Zhao – Fallen, Rich, and Rising Again?

As spring 2025 blooms and Easter’s themes of rebirth fill the air, Changpeng Zhao emerges as one of the most controversial figures of startup mythology: a man who fell spectacularly, paid a price—then rose again, wealthier and louder than ever. Once the almighty architect of Binance, CZ now resides in Dubai with a net worth that Forbes estimates at $63 billion.