Wirecard's former CEO arrested over accounting scandal

Source: Xinhua | 2020-06-24

Markus Braun, former CEO of German payment service provider Wirecard, was arrested over the firm's accounting scandal, the Munich public prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday.

The public prosecutor's office "applied for and received" an arrest warrant for Braun from the responsible investigating judge of the Munich District Court on Monday.

Braun had turned himself in to the Munich public prosecutor's office on Monday evening and would be presented to the investigating judge on Tuesday, who would decide on the continuation of his detention, according to the public prosecutor's office.

According to the investigations conducted so far, the Munich public prosecutor's office accused Braun of possibly "having inflated the balance sheet total and sales volume of Wirecard AG in conjunction with other perpetrators by feigning income from transactions with so-called third-party acquirers (TPA)."

The aim of the market manipulation by Braun was to make Wirecard "financially stronger and more attractive for investors and customers," the public prosecutor's office stated.

Investigations would focus on alleged bank balances in trust accounts at two Philippine banks amounting to more than 1.9 billion euros (2.14 billion U.S. dollars), the public prosecutor's office noted.

The company said in a statement on Monday, "The Management Board of Wirecard assesses on the basis of further examination that there is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of 1.9 billion euros do not exist."