The Wirecard process is about fraud in the billions: It should be clarified who was responsible. Former board member Marsalek has now contacted his lawyer for the first time since his escape – but remains in hiding.
According to media reports, the fugitive former Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek wrote to the Munich I district court via his defense attorney. Accordingly, spokesmen for the public prosecutor’s office and the court confirmed the receipt of such a letter by the 4th Greater Criminal Chamber, which is negotiating the alleged billion-euro fraud at Wirecard.
Neither said anything about the content. The “Wirtschaftswoche” had previously reported on the letter. Marsalek’s lawyer told the AFP news agency: “We have commented on different facets and different people.”
Apparently opinion on Third Party Business
According to the report by “Wirtschaftswoche”, the Austrian did not specifically address the allegations made against him. However, he commented on the third-party business in Asia, which is the focus of the process against former CEO Markus Braun and two other former managers. “He is said to have given it to be understood that this – contrary to what the public prosecutor’s office said – existed,” says the report without citing sources.
Marsalek, who was responsible for the Asian business and left shortly after the payment processor went bankrupt three years ago, would support Braun’s position. During the process, he repeatedly asserted that Wirecard had actually processed business for third-party partners in Asia and that the money raised from this had been put aside.
accusations against exManaging Director
The public prosecutor’s office considers the alleged billion-dollar deals to be fake and the profits made from them to be fabricated. The former Wirecard representative in Dubai, who was also accused, Oliver Bellenhaus, admitted the multi-billion dollar fraud as a key witness. In the letter from his lawyer, Marsalek indicated that Bellenhaus was not telling the truth on several points, according to the magazine report.
Bellenhaus’ lawyer Florian Eder told the “Wirtschaftswoche”: “You can write a lot and say a lot, but you don’t have to believe everything.” Insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe has not found any traces of the transactions either and considers it proven that these deals were invented.
Gang fraud charges
Braun and the two co-accused are on trial, among other things, for gang fraud. You face long prison terms. The Wirecard case has been under discussion at the Munich I District Court for several months. The Wirecard bankruptcy is one of the biggest economic scandals in Germany. Braun, together with the rest of the Wirecard boardroom, is said to have booked bogus transactions in the billions over the years and thus swindled large loans. He denies the allegations and blames Marsalek.
The former Wirecard board member had left abroad in the summer of 2020 when the collapse of the former Dax group became apparent. According to various media reports, Marsalek fled to Russia. The letter provides at least one indication that Marsalek is following the process from afar.
The trial will continue this Wednesday. Braun’s and Marsalek’s former board colleague Susanne Steidl, who was formerly responsible for product development at Wirecard, is to take a seat on the witness stand. The manager – like Braun and Marsalek from Austria – is said not to have been privy to the criminal business of the Wirecard gang.