Quick Introduction
The Wirecard trial against defendants Markus Braun, Oliver Bellenhaus, and Stephan von Erffa began in Munich on December 8, 2022. The indictment accuses the defendants of between late 2015 to mid-2020 misrepresentation of the company, market manipulation, professional gang fraud, and embezzlement. The court scheduled 100 trial days until 2024. The verdict is therefore expected in 2024.
Founded in 1999 and based in the Munich suburb of Aschheim, Wirecard was a high-risk payment processor for porn and online gambling. It became a fintech unicorn, displaced Commerzbank in Germany’s DAX blue-chip index, and at one point was worth $28 billion.
Wirecard was forced to admit in June 2020 that €1.9 billion euros ($2 billion) were missing from its balance sheet and became the first-ever DAX member to file for insolvency.
Trial Key Data
| Trial case | Wirecard |
| Location | Munich Stadelheim |
| Presiding judge | Markus Foedisch |
| Leading prosecutor | Matthias Buehring |
| Defendants | Markus Braun Oliver Bellenhaus Stephan von Erffa |
| Lawyers | Alfred Dierlamm (Markus Braun) Sabine Stetter (Stephan von Erffawill) |
| Charges | The indictment accuses the defendants of between late 2015 to mid-2020 misrepresentation of the company, market manipulation, professional gang fraud, and embezzlement. |
