Manila (AFP)
An investigation has been opened in the Philippines against the former chief financial officer of the German company Wirecard, which was liquidated last year in a resounding scandal, with authorities accusing him and others of bank fraud and cybercrime, announced on Monday. Philippine government.
The fall in 2020 of Wirecard, a financial services provider in the booming segment of electronic payments, is considered the most resounding scandal of the post-war period in Germany.
The Wirecard affair had erupted in June 2020, when the company which was a member of the prestigious Dax stock index of the largest German companies confessed that 1.9 billion euros registered in its accounts, and allegedly hosted in two Philippine banks, n 'did not exist - resulting in a drop of more than 98% of the share price.
The Central Bank of the Philippines had already assured that this money had never entered the country's financial system and the two banks involved have denied any relationship with Wirecard.
The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation filed two complaints on May 31 against former Wirecard CFO Jan Marsalek, as well as a Manila lawyer and bank workers, the justice minister told AFP. Menardo Guevarra.
A preliminary investigation has been opened, and it will be up to the prosecution to decide on possible indictments.
Mr. Marsalek, who vanished into thin air and escaped German police, was responsible for Wirecard's activities in Asia, which are at the heart of the accusations of accounting fraud.
© 2021 AFP