Now it’s fixed: Yesterday, Monday, the Munich public prosecutor’s office brought charges against the long-standing Wirecard boss Markus Braun after the Handelsblatt reported on Sunday. The Viennese and two other ex-managers of the former payment processor are accused of “gang-like behavior”.
The indictment is 480 pages long. Investigators accuse Braun of gang fraud, misappropriation of corporate assets, accounting fraud and market manipulation. If the public prosecutor has his way, the former Wirecard manager in Dubai, Oliver Bellenhaus, and the former chief accountant and deputy chief financial officer Stephan von Erffa should also sit in the dock with Braun. According to the indictment, the trio invented extremely profitable businesses, especially in Asia.
“Completely wrong image”
Through Braun’s spokesman, his defense attorneys protested their client’s innocence yesterday – and in turn raised serious allegations against the investigators. The prosecution suffers from “serious deficiencies” and assumes a “completely false picture of the crime”.
In the further proceedings it will be shown that “Dr. Braun was never part of a gang that embezzled millions of dollars behind his back, that he knew nothing about the machinations of this gang and certainly did not benefit from them,” it said.
If there is a trial, the accused face up to ten years in prison. Braun and Bellenhaus have been in custody since July 2020, and von Erffa was released in summer 2021 subject to conditions.
On the other hand, there is still no trace of ex-board member Jan Marsalek, whom many consider to be the mastermind. He has been on the run since Wirecard went bankrupt. The payment processor went bankrupt in June 2020 after discovering a €1.9 billion balance sheet hole.
Source: Nachrichten
