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Key witness Bellenhaus in the courtroom in Munich
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
The Munich I public prosecutor's office has granted a request from Oliver Bellenhaus's defense to suspend the arrest warrant against him. The Higher Regional Court also agreed to the release of the prosecution's most important witness in the Wirecard trial. SPIEGEL learned this from judicial circles. Bellenhaus is scheduled to leave the high-security prison in Munich-Stadelheim, where he is in custody, this Tuesday.
A court spokesman confirmed that the request to have the arrest warrant suspended was granted. Bellenhaus' lawyer Florian Eder and the public prosecutor's office did not comment when asked.
According to SPIEGEL information, the release comes with conditions: Bellenhaus is not allowed to leave the country. The public prosecutor's office credits Bellenhaus with making a full confession about his involvement in the alleged fraud and other alleged crimes at the former DAX group Wirecard. The company's long-time governor in Dubai has been in court since December 2022 and has heavily incriminated the co-accused, ex-boss Markus Braun, as well as the former head of accounting, Stefan von Erffa.
Bellenhaus has also announced certain financial compensation for the damage that he and the other alleged gang members are said to have caused at Wirecard. The manager had parked around six million euros in a foundation in Liechtenstein, money that he largely received for his involvement in the alleged fraud. The public prosecutor's office had already confiscated these assets, Bellenhaus no longer claims them and is therefore making them available to the insolvency estate.
The statement was an important basis for Markus Braun's arrest
Bellenhaus flew from Dubai to Munich in the summer of 2020 shortly after Wirecard's collapse and turned himself in to the public prosecutor's office. His statement was an important basis for the arrest of Markus Braun shortly afterwards in July. The ex-boss has been in custody ever since.
In the spring of 2022, the public prosecutor's office indicted Braun, Bellenhaus and von Erffa, accusing the three men of gang fraud, accounting falsification, market manipulation and serious breach of trust. Braun and von Erffa reject the allegations. Before Christmas, the public prosecutor's office also brought charges against the former CFO Burkhard Ley, who also rejects the allegations.
Braun's lawyer Alfred Dierlamm had filed a detention appeal on behalf of his client early on, but so far the public prosecutor's office and the court have always refused to release Braun, even during regular detention checks. They obviously still see urgent reasons for detention with the ex-boss.
Was there third party business?
The former Dubai governor Bellenhaus is considered a key figure in the alleged fraud system. Wirecard had ostensibly outsourced significant parts of its payment processing business to so-called third-party partners and collected commissions for referring customers. The proceeds of up to two billion euros were said to have flowed into trust accounts in Singapore and later in the Philippines.
The public prosecutor's office, on the other hand, is convinced that the third-party business largely did not exist and that there was no money in the trust accounts. During the trial, Bellenhaus described in detail how he had faked customer relationships and falsified balance confirmations on behalf of the fugitive ex-board member Jan Marsalek. Braun made the specifications for the sales and profits to be achieved in this way.
According to Braun, the third-party business did exist, but Marsalek, Bellenhaus and others ensured that the money owed to Wirecard from this business was embezzled behind his back.
Bellenhaus will continue to have to appear in court twice a week, and he plans to comment on the case again this week. The process is expected to last until the end of this year.