The Munich I Public Prosecutor’s Office and other authorities were behind him a long time ago: Henry O’Sullivan, 46 years old, British businessman and specialist in delicate transactions. The Munich investigators consider O’Sullivan to be a key figure in the Wirecard case, they have him at the top of a long list of more than 30 suspects. Framed by other alleged accomplices of the hiding Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek.
O’Sullivan is being investigated in Munich for aiding and abetting the embezzlement of Wirecard’s assets. He is said to have helped Marsalek and his alleged gang to put aside millions. Money with which the former stock exchange darling from Aschheim near Munich is said to have faked business in Asia that, according to the Munich I public prosecutor’s office, never existed. Marsalek and others are being investigated, among other things, for suspected fraud in the billions.
In Singapore, O’Sullivan is now in jail until further notice. The city-state police arrested him on Monday. On Wednesday, he was heard by video by a district court, like the daily newspaper The Straits Times reported. Accordingly, there is already an indictment against O’Sullivan, it reads: Aiding and abetting the forgery of a document.
Wirecard was based in Aschbeim near Munich. The traces in the case lead to Asia.
(Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa)
O’Sullivan allegedly instigated the Singapore-based Citadelle company in 2016 to forge a balance confirmation. With this document, in turn, Wirecard assets were faked in an alleged escrow account that did not even exist – that is, at the core of the fraud that Wirecard was exposed to in June 2020. It remains to be seen whether the allegations against O’Sullivan raised in Germany and Singapore are correct. Suspicions can also turn out to be false. The presumption of innocence applies until a final conviction has been reached.
According to The Straits Times O’Sullivan’s attorney in Singapore on Wednesday demanded that his client be released on bail. O’Sullivan supported the authorities in the investigation. The decision on a release was postponed to September 8th. The SZ tried in vain on Wednesday to reach O’Sullivan’s lawyer for comment.
The public prosecutor’s office in Munich I did not comment on the arrest of the Briton. However, it can be assumed that the Munich authorities will submit an extradition request. Should Singapore not allow this because of its own investigation, then the public prosecutor should at least try to question O’Sullivan there.
Much depends on a possible statement
Singapore is considered to be one of the central locations in the alleged billion-dollar fraud by Wirecard, one of the largest economic scandals in Germany. Shareholders have lost more than 20 billion euros, banks and large investors more than three billion euros. Most of the money is gone forever.
According to the investigators’ findings, Marsalek and his alleged gang in Singapore have for years faked a million dollar fortune in trust accounts via the local company Citadelle. A court case is already pending against Citadelle boss RS in Singapore and he faces jail time. Most recently, the alleged trust accounts at Wirecard were relocated to the Philippines, where the deception was exposed in mid-2020. Wirecard went bankrupt, Marsalek went into hiding, and long-time CEO Markus Braun, who rejects all allegations, was placed in custody.
For the foreseeable indictment against Braun and other suspects, it could be important whether O’Sullivan comments on the Wirecard case. Or whether he, as a suspect, prefers to remain silent.