December 7, 2022
© APA/APA/dpa/Peter Kneffel
Wirecard’s criminal trial in what is believed to be Germany’s biggest fraud case since 1945 opens in Munich on Thursday.
The Public Ministry accuses the former CEO of Wirecard, the Austrian Markus Braun, and his two defendants of forming a criminal gang, falsifying the group’s balance sheets and defrauding creditors of 3.1 billion euros. The fourth criminal chamber of the Munich district court has scheduled around 100 days of hearings until 2024.
The five-hour reading of the 89-page indictment is essentially scheduled for day one. Contradictory statements by the accused are predictable even before the start of the trial: former CEO Braun rejects the allegations.
Oliver Bellenhaus, on the other hand, the former head of the Wirecard subsidiary in Dubai, is serving as a key witness for the public prosecutor. According to the defense, Bellenhaus wants to testify cooperatively and assume his responsibility. Both are in custody. The third accused is the former head of accounting for the Wirecard Group. He is expected to refuse to testify in court.
Wirecard’s investigations are far from over, even if the process is now starting. Former sales manager Jan Marsalek (Maršálek), another important figure, is still at large. The Austrian is believed to have gone into hiding in Moscow.