Wirecard process in Munich: defenders rely on attack

On the second day of the Wirecard trial, the defense attorneys for the three accused attacked each other. The lawyer for ex-CEO Braun called for the proceedings to be suspended. His client will not comment for the time being.

Florian Eder, the lawyer for the former Wirecard governor in Dubai, Oliver Bellenhaus, shifts restlessly in his chair. Alfred Dierlamm, the defender of ex-Wirecard CEO Markus Braun, has just launched an all-round attack against Bellenhaus. He “lied” to the public prosecutor’s office. It’s about an aspect that is of central importance for this process: Did a central part of Wirecard’s foreign business, namely that with third-party partners in Asia, actually exist, or was it fictitious?

During several interrogations, Bellenhaus stated that the payments processed online by Wirecard’s third-party partners in Asia were fictitious. For this reason, the 1.9 billion euros that are to be kept in Philippine escrow accounts for Wirecard would never have existed. Wirecard had to file for bankruptcy on June 25, 2020 because this money could not be found.

Braun lawyer requests suspension of proceedings

The Munich I public prosecutor’s office has therefore brought charges against Bellenhaus, Braun and the former chief accountant at Wirecard, Stephan von Erffa. The allegations: infidelity, misrepresentation of Wirecard’s balance sheets between 2015 and 2018, market manipulation and commercial gang fraud. She is convinced that the trio has deceived investors and the general public for years with fake business figures. In his “Opening Statement”, Braun lawyer Dierlamm rejected the allegations. And not only that. He made serious allegations against the public prosecutor.

The entire procedure suffers from a “congenital defect” because the investigators had relied on the statements of an unbelievable witness – the key witness Bellenhaus. Rather, there is solid evidence of the existence of a “shadow structure” into which Bellenhaus directed millions from the Wirecard Group. However, the public prosecutor’s office did not pursue this despite repeated references and requests from the Braun defense. “In my almost 30 years of experience as a defense attorney, I have never experienced any other procedure in which a client was so criminalized and prejudiced,” criticized Dierlamm. He means that the public prosecutor’s office decided early on that Braun was the leader of a gang.

Dierlamm has therefore applied for the suspension of the main proceedings. “A main hearing, which is primarily designed to heal investigation deficits, is doomed to failure,” he justified this step. A decision on this application should be made shortly. Until then, Braun will not comment personally, Dierlamm announced. It will be possible from January next year at the earliest.

“Completely below the belt”

Judge Markus Födisch gave Dierlamm around two hours – until the lunch break. After that, Bellenhaus lawyer Florian Eder had the opportunity to counter Dierlamm’s statements. “Wirecard was a sham,” said Eder, referring to his client’s presentation of the group’s fictitious balance sheets. He called Dierlamm’s attacks on Bellenhaus “completely below the belt”. Bellenhaus decided to face up to his responsibility in Germany “despite staying safely abroad”.

“Mr. Bellenhaus is guilty of helping to keep a fraudulent system alive through his actions. I apologize to the victims for Mr. Bellenhaus,” said Eder. Bellenhaus had already made such an apology on November 19, 2020 during a brief hearing by the Wirecard investigative committee. According to his lawyer, he wants to repeat this personal apology in this main hearing.

Key witness Bellenhaus hopes for a lighter sentence

The next day of the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, when he has the opportunity to do so. In contrast to Markus Braun, Bellenhaus wants to express himself in detail at this point in time. His defense attorney left it open whether it would then be possible to question other lawyers. Eder also made no secret of the fact that his client hoped for a lighter sentence due to the role as a key witness.

Lawyer: Erffa – not a central figure in this scandal

According to his lawyer Sabine Stetter, the third defendant, Stephan von Erffa, also initially wants to remain silent. In her rather short statement, she drew the picture of a Wirecard manager who – contrary to what is shown in the indictment – was not a central figure in this scandal and in the company. “With Deputy CFO, he only had a purely imaginary title,” emphasized Stetter.