In the scandal surrounding the balance sheet falsification at Wirecard, emails and internal documents weigh heavily on the former boss of the financial services provider according to media information. “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, WDR and NDR quoted on Tuesday from documents from the auditing company KPMG, which corroborate the suspicion that the Austrian Markus Braun had deceived the Wirecard shareholders and thus manipulated the course of the company.
According to the media, Braun issued an ad-hoc announcement in April “despite explicit warnings” from the auditors, which publicly exonerated the financial service provider from allegations of balance sheet falsification in this. The Wirecard share price then picked up.
According to “SZ”, WDR and NDR, however, the announcement was in contradiction to the results of the auditors who had already been commissioned to conduct a special investigation this money cannot be found.
“Commercial gang fraud”
The submission of the special report was due a few days at the time. According to the reports, the publication of the ad hoc announcement by Braun was preceded by a discussion in which the then Wirecard boss was urgently warned not to spread incomplete news. What the CEO intends to spread on the stock exchange “does not correspond to our perception of the actual situation” and is also not in accordance with the results of the special audit, the media quoted as saying.
Wirecard filed for bankruptcy at the end of June. The payment service provider is said to have falsified its balance sheets for years. A total of 1.9 billion euros, which should be in trust accounts in Asia, cannot be found. The prosecutors suspect Braun of being one of the main culprits for “commercial gang fraud”, in which the Wirecard executive suite is said to have booked billions in bogus transactions over the years in order to keep the company afloat and to cheat credit.
Braun is in custody in Bavaria. With a view to the ongoing investigations, he did not want to comment on “SZ”, WDR and NDR.
