Media: Wirecard Worked Closely With Germany’s Federal Criminal Police

The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) cooperated with the bankrupt fintech Wirecard from 2013 to 2020 and used their credit cards during investigations. This is reported by the Financial Times.

According to the publication, Wirecard issued about a third of the credit cards that BKA staff used to settle invoices during investigations. The company issued the cards under fictitious names and provided them free of charge.

“At some point we will become the BKA’s own bank,” wrote Wirecard’s executive director Alexander von Knop in a 2014 email to colleagues, a copy seen by the Financial Times.

There is no confirmation of Knop’s personal involvement in issuing forged credit cards.

The investigation found that Wirecard’s cards were also used by Germany’s foreign intelligence service, albeit to a much lesser extent than the BKA.

“There is no evidence that Wirecard abused the payment data it received. However, cooperation with the BKA helped the company improve its image, as it sought to position itself as a credible partner of government authorities,” the investigators added.

The BKA stated that Wirecard Bank AG supported them in performing their duties, including by providing bank accounts and credit cards.

Meanwhile, an investigation into the auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY), which audited Wirecard’s accounts for more than a decade, continues.

A special prosecutor found about 11 instances where EY did not take steps to disclose the multi-billion-dollar fraud, Bloomberg reports.

According to the investigation, the quality of EY’s documents was unconvincing, as they were based on the company’s verbal and written statements rather than on neutral third parties, such as banks.

The investigator also noted that EY approved Wirecard’s 2016 annual report, even though the audit uncovered around 20 issues, some of which significantly affected the balance sheet:

“EY signed this report based on delayed responses from Wirecard’s management, without taking steps to obtain documentary confirmation.”

As noted in June 2020, a hole of nearly €2 billion was found in Wirecard’s balance sheet. The company subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

The former Wirecard chief executive Markus Braun is arrested on suspicion of falsifying data on the company’s cash balances.

Former senior executive Jan Marsalek, described as the mastermind of the accounting fraud, fled a few days before Munich prosecutors issued an arrest warrant. Some people were arrested on suspicion of organizing his escape a former senior official of the Austrian secret service and a former right-wing parliamentarian.

Marsalek’s whereabouts remain unknown. Some reports say he fled to Russia.

In June, the German SdK shareholders’ association filed a lawsuit against EY. In August, the investigation into EY’s alleged fraud, opened in October 2019, has escalated into a full-blown inquiry.

At the end of July, Wirecard investors filed a lawsuit against BaFin, accusing the regulator of slow action. It later emerged that Commerzbank had warned BaFin about Wirecard’s manipulation as early as the start of 2020, but the regulator took no action.

In January 2021, one of BaFin’s employees was caught insider trading in Wirecard shares.

How Wirecard Crashed: Dubious Clients, Forged Reports and a €2 Billion Hole

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