The administrator handling the insolvency case of the fintech company Wirecard, Michaël Jaffé, has filed a lawsuit seeking to declare the company’s financial statements for 2017 and 2018 invalid. сообщает Handelsblatt.
According to Jaffé, the figures presented in the statements were ‘a mirage’.
A representative for the lawyer confirmed to Handelsblatt that the administrator in the insolvency case filed the lawsuit in the Munich district court, but declined to comment on details. Formally, Jaffé’s suit is directed against Wirecard AG.
According to informed sources, the suit has several motives. Without this step there is a risk that inflated financial figures will reflect on the balance sheet. This, in turn, would create problems for potential claims against the auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY), which has audited Wirecard’s accounts for more than ten years.
Jaffé’s suit ensures that EY could later be accused of gross errors in auditing Wirecard.
In June 2020, a hole of almost €2 billion was found in Wirecard’s balance sheet. The company subsequently began bankruptcy proceedings.
The incident drew the attention of German prosecutors, after which police arrested former Wirecard chief executive Markus Braun.
Former Wirecard top executive Jan Marsalek, after going into hiding, carried out a large transfer in bitcoins. According to media reports, he may be hiding in Russia. The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Marsalek’s cooperation with the Austrian security service.
In late July, Wirecard investors filed suit against BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. They accused the regulator of taking late measures against the company.
In June, the German SdK shareholders association filed a lawsuit against EY. In August, at the request of the Auditor Oversight Authority of Germany (APAS), the investigation into fraud involving the auditing firm, initiated in October 2019, progressed to full-fledged status.
How Wirecard collapsed: dubious clients, fake reports and a hole of €2 billion
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