Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun does not deny in court that there were criminals in his company. But he knew nothing about manipulation, he said at the trial in Munich. The collapse of the former group was a “real shocking experience” for the Austrian.
“I knew nothing about forgery or embezzlement. Nor did I form a gang with anyone,” Braun said in his first statement about the indictment. He contradicts the prosecutor’s key witness, Oliver Bellenhaus. Bellenhaus worked in Dubai as a manager of Wirecard until 2020. According to him, Braun was an all-dominant boss who was fully involved in the billion dollar fraud and knew everything.
Marsalek under suspicion
Braun, in turn, should assume that sales manager Jan Marsalek could have played a key role. “There were a lot of talented young people in the whole group, but Marsalek really stood out. Marsalek felt like a stroke of luck at the time,” said Braun about the Austrian, who has been in hiding since 2020. According to his own statement, the 53-year-old former CEO assumed that both third-party trading and the proceeds from it were “completely existent”. “I didn’t know these funds were being embezzled.”
Braun has been in prison for over two and a half years and has lost almost all of his wealth. In June 2020, Wirecard’s board had to admit that 1.9 billion euros had disappeared. The money is said to be in escrow accounts in the Philippines, but they are still missing. Braun began his career at Wirecard in the early 2000s. At the time, the company was small and made money primarily from fees for processing credit card payments for pornography and gaming.
Fictitious trades instead of losses
In 2018, the group went public on the Frankfurt stock exchange and was sometimes worth more than 20 billion euros. According to the indictment, Braun’s rise and wealth at the time were based on fraud. Several suspects are said to have fabricated billions in turnover, falsified balance sheets and defrauded lenders of more than three billion euros. The fabricated profits were therefore booked as revenue from so-called third parties. These processed payments in countries for which the German group itself did not have a permit. Without sham transactions, Wirecard would have written losses.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
