Tag: Wirecard

A London court has delivered a seismic verdict in the ongoing saga of Wirecard, the collapsed German fintech giant: six Bulgarian nationals have been convicted and sentenced for spying on behalf of Russian intelligence, acting under the direct orders of Wirecard’s fugitive former COO, Jan Marsalek. This marks the first time a court has definitively established that Wirecard, under Marsalek’s leadership.

The conviction of three Bulgarian nationals in London has shed new light on the murky intersection between financial fraud and Russian espionage. A jury at the Old Bailey found the three guilty of spying for Russia, operating as part of a sophisticated intelligence network allegedly orchestrated by Wirecard’s fugitive COO, Jan Marsalek. Investigators revealed that Marsalek, who fled Germany in 2020 following the collapse of Wirecard, directed espionage operations across Europe.

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.

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.

The Wirecard scandal continues to unravel as James Henry O’Sullivan, a British businessman and close confidant of fugitive Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek, takes the stand in a Singapore fraud trial. O’Sullivan, accused of falsifying escrow account records that allegedly contained billions in Wirecard reserves, revealed damning insights into Marsalek’s clandestine operations.

In a controversial move, Deutsche Bank’s asset manager DWS has appointed EY as its new group auditor—despite suing the firm for its role in the Wirecard scandal. This marks a high-profile win for EY after a two-year ban from acquiring new listed clients in Germany due to its audit failures in the Wirecard collapse.

EY, the embattled audit giant, has re-entered the Dax-listed audit sphere by securing Qiagen, a biotech heavyweight, as its new auditor. This surprising comeback follows a two-year ban on acquiring listed clients in Germany due to the Wirecard scandal, where EY’s audits faced allegations of gross negligence.

A deep-dive investigation by Bavarian broadcaster BR has exposed significant connections between the collapsed Wirecard and Berlin-based SoftSwiss, run by Belarussian national Ivan Montik. The report, part of BR's Gambling without Rules series, highlights SoftSwiss' extensive role in operating illegal online casinos targeting Germany.

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.

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.

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.

On August 20, 2024, Joshua Cartu, 45, a prominent figure in the notorious Cartu Brothers‘ binary options fraud scheme, was detained in Russia. Court press service said Cartu was under an Interpol Red Notice due to accusations that he was part of a group that defrauded investors between 2013 and 2017. The Cartu Brothers operated the GreyMountain Management (GMM) Binary Options fraud scheme. On August 24, 2024, Cartu was released.