"I reject all charges" against me, said Markus Braun at the start of a river deposition that should last several hours before a court in Munich.
The 53-year-old man, who faces many years in prison, said he had "no knowledge of wrongdoing" within the company he had run since 2002, and added that he felt "a shock for the shareholders and employees" during the publication on June 18, 2020 of a press release which revealed a gigantic scandal.
Wirecard sank on the stock market in June 2020, after its leaders admitted that 1.9 billion euros in assets, supposedly in accounts in Asia, or a quarter of the balance sheet, did not actually exist.
Until then, this company offering online payment services was one of the stars of the Dax, the main index of the German Stock Exchange, where it was worth more than Deutsche Bank.
The former fintech CEO, imprisoned since June 2020, has always blamed two former traveling companions: Stephan von Erffa, former chief accountant, and Oliver Bellenhaus, former director of a subsidiary based in Dubai, also tried in Munich.
Markus Braun "was the core towards which everything was oriented", meanwhile assured the court Mr. Bellenhaus.
The court has scheduled a total of 100 hearing days until 2024 to try to shed light on this unprecedented financial scandal in Germany, which has splashed the economic and political world.
© 2023 AFP