Wirecard executive ‘touted Russian nerve gas documents’ July 9, 2020 Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek reportedly touted documents about the use of a Russian chemical weapon in the UK and bragged about ties to the intelligence services. Documents, which have been reviewed by the Financial Times and used in meetings in the summer of 2018, include the formula for the world’s deadliest nerve agent, novichok. The [...]
Munich prosecutors arrest head of Wirecard’s Dubai unit July 6, 2020 Munich prosecutors have arrested the head of a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard on suspicion of aggravated fraud. Oliver Bellenhaus is the second senior Wirecard employee to be arrested after the former chief executive Markus Braun last month, who has since been released on bail. The firm Bellenhaus ran, CardSystems Middle East, was the largest individual [...]
Audit shows Wirecard’s core business ‘has been lossmaking for years’ July 6, 2020 Wirecard’s core business in Europe and America has reportedly been lossmaking for years, raising questions about the economic health of parts of the firm not directly affected by the accounting fraud. The German firm filed for insolvency after an accounting scandal which saw €1.9bn missing from its balance sheet. Former chief executive Markus Braun was [...]
Head of German regulator calls Wirecard fraud a ‘massive criminal act’ July 2, 2020 The head of Germany’s financial watchdog has called the accounting scandal at Wirecard a “massive criminal act”. The German payments processing firm filed for insolvency after an accounting scandal which saw €1.9bn missing from its balance sheet. Former chief executive Markus Braun was last week arrested on suspicion of fraud and market manipulation. “It is [...]
The taxing question of unsustainable corporate debt July 2, 2020 Although we are by no means out of the danger zone, eyes are starting to turn away from how the UK’s businesses can survive the Covid-19 crisis and towards how to rebuild the economy in the longer term. However, there is a very real issue facing the UK economy as a whole: are our levels [...]
Crispin Odey to sue German regulator over Wirecard short-selling ban July 2, 2020 Crispin Odey is planning to sue the German financial regulator for millions of pounds after it banned short-selling on Wirecard last year. Wirecard filed for insolvency after an accounting scandal which saw €1.9bn missing from its balance sheet. Former chief executive Markus Braun was last week arrested on suspicion of fraud and market manipulation. Yesterday [...]
Regulator told about Wirecard ‘link to laundering’ last year July 2, 2020 The financial watchdog was reportedly warned last year that Wirecard had alleged links to a scheme that used bogus online stores to conceal the processing of high-risk payments. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was given details of an operation where allegedly fake sites were used as a front for channeling gambling proceeds through the payments [...]
Wirecard offices raided by Munich prosecutors over missing €1.9bn July 1, 2020 Wirecard offices in Germany and two locations in Austria have been raided by German prosecutors investigating the missing €1.9bn from its accounts. A spokesperson for the Munich authority said 12 prosecutors and 33 police officers are conducting searches, according to Bloomberg reports. In June, police searched Wirecard’s offices after prosecutors launched an investigation into former [...]
Wirecard UK fallout lessens June 30, 2020 Readers will be very familiar with the €1.9bn Wirecard scandal that has rocked Germany, firmly placed a spotlight back onto the world of auditors and dangerously caused pause for thought for Fintech firms in the U.K. from a regulatory standpoint. As of this morning at 00.01 the FCA resumed Wirecard Solutions’ regulated activities which meant [...]
Wirecard ‘relied on small number of customers’ June 30, 2020 Wirecard reportedly relied on a small number of customers for the majority of its sales, according to the Financial Times. An internal company spreadsheet seen by the FT lays bare the extent of Wirecard’s issues. A snapshot of the German payment processing firm’s clients in 2017 shows only 100 customers account for more than half [...]