Germany: Wirecard scandal costs founder boss

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It is a heavy financial scandal shaking Germany. The company Wirecard, an intermediary for electronic payments, is on the brink and is accused of massive fraud which could call into question the existence of the company. Its founder was forced to resign.

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From our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut

Markus Braun is an opera lover. The journey of the founder of Wirecard may one day deliver the material for a staging on the destiny of a founder of start-ups whose ambition and practices have led to a major financial scandal. Wirecard was born in 1999 and initially serves as an intermediary for online payments for porn sites and games. Two decades later, the company was dubbed and integrated into the Dax, the index of the German stock market elite. With 6,000 employees and 26 branches worldwide, Wirecard has become a major provider for online payments and one day wants to become a global player.

Publications in the press about fraud first scratch the image of the company. An audit firm needs to clear things up, but its investigation leads to the opposite result. A fourth postponement of the presentation of the 2019 balance sheet is announced Thursday. In question, a fraud of nearly two billion euros whose existence is not clear. Wirecard action plunged. Friday afternoon, the management claimed to conduct "constructive discussions" with its banks. The founder of the company, Markus Braun, has resigned. The booklet of this financial opera ends with the fall of its hero.

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