In Munich on Thursday, the Wirecard criminal case in what is believed to be the largest case of fraud in Germany since 1945 began 45 minutes late. The public prosecutor’s office accuses the former Wirecard CEO, the Austrian Markus Braun, and his two co-defendants of forming a criminal gang, falsifying the group balance sheets and cheating lenders out of 3.1 billion euros.
Before the group’s bankruptcy in the summer of 2020, the board had admitted that proceeds of 1.9 billion euros, which were supposed to come from transactions with partner companies and were allegedly booked in trust accounts in Southeast Asia, could not be found. A large part of this business with partner companies went through Dubai.
The fourth criminal chamber of the Munich district court has scheduled 100 days of trial until 2024. The five-hour reading of the 89-page indictment is essentially scheduled for the first day.
Contradictory statements by the accused are foreseeable even before the trial begins: Ex-CEO Braun rejects the allegations. According to Braun, he was not involved and himself became a victim of criminal activities in his company. Oliver Bellenhaus, on the other hand, the former head of the Wirecard subsidiary in Dubai, is serving as a key witness for the public prosecutor. According to the defense, Bellenhaus wants to testify cooperatively and face up to his responsibility. Both are in custody. The third accused is the former chief accountant of the Wirecard Group. He is expected to refuse to testify in court.
The Wirecard investigations are far from over, even if the process is now beginning. The former sales manager Jan Marsalek (Maršálek), another key figure, is still on the run. It is believed that the Austrian went into hiding in Moscow.
