By Elizabeth Hearst
A former head of a key subsidiary of disgraced German payment provider Wirecard has admitted his wrongdoing in the global multi-billion dollar fraud scandal.
Lawyers for the unidentified Chief Executive Officer of Dubai based Cardsystem Middle East have said that their client had “voluntarily given himself up for the proceedings – in contrast to others – and takes individual responsibility”, according to defence lawyer Nicolas Fruehsorger.
The former CEO has not been identified by Munich prosecutors in order to avoid prejudicing judicial proceedings. It is the first known confession of an individual linked to the Wirecard scandal according to The New York Times.
The individual travelled from Dubai to Germany last week where he turned himself in to German authorities. He was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud, attempted fraud and aiding and abetting other crimes, according to Prosecutors.
The German payments provider is embroiled in controversy following revelations that it had filed for insolvency amid a €1.9 Billion hole in its accounts.
The former CEO of Wirecard, Marcus Braun has been arrested and accused of inflating the company’s finances after it emerged that €1.9 Billion supposedly sitting in its accounts in the Philippines “probably did not exist”.
Investigations were launched after The Financial Times reported that the company could not verify significant bank balances with special auditors KPMG brought in to investigate.
It emerged that the original auditors of the company, EY, had failed for three years to “request critical information” from a Singapore bank, where Wirecard stated it held €1 Billion in cash.
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