Court: Wirecard trial extended by almost a year

Crime - Court: Wirecard trial extended by almost a year

The Wirecard trial concerning the alleged largest accounting fraud case in German post-war history could last almost twice as long as initially scheduled. The Fourth Criminal Chamber of Munich Regional Court I has scheduled 86 additional trial days until December 19 of this year. This was announced by a court spokesperson on request.

The trial against former CEO Markus Braun, key witness Oliver Bellenhaus and the former chief accountant of the DAX company, which collapsed in 2020, has been running since December 8, 2022. The chamber had originally scheduled 100 trial days, the last of which would have been January 10 next week.

This is the issue

Wirecard collapsed in the summer of 2020 after the auditors were unable to find 1.9 billion euros that should have been recognized in the balance sheet. According to the indictment, the money never existed. Braun and accomplices are said to have acted as a criminal gang to fake transactions in order to keep the loss-making company afloat.

However, Braun, who was remanded in custody in July 2020 - almost three and a half years ago - has declared his innocence. According to the Austrian manager, the real criminals around the ex-CEO of Sales Jan Marsalek, who has gone into hiding, and the key witness Bellenhaus, are said to have put vast sums of money on the side.

Braun and Bellenhaus are accusing each other, and none of the witnesses heard so far have been able to shed any light on the matter. It remains unclear whether the 1.9 billion euros that have been missing since summer 2020 ever existed - and if so, by whom the funds were ultimately misappropriated. The key witness Bellenhaus, who has also been in custody without interruption since July 2020, denies Braun's accusations.

Clarification difficult

One of the reasons why the investigation is proving so difficult is that the crime scenes were largely located in Asia: in Dubai, Singapore, the Philippines and other Asian countries. The court has summoned numerous witnesses from abroad in recent months, but they have not appeared.

So far, mainly former employees of the former Wirecard headquarters in Aschheim near Munich have testified. However, Braun's former subordinates have all stated that they knew nothing about the billion-euro fraud.

The first witnesses in the new year will now be the former head of the legal department of Wirecard Bank on January 10, followed by a former sales manager the next day.

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1. The extension of the Wirecard trial by the Munich Regional Court will now extend until December 19, adding 86 additional trial days to the initial schedule.
2. The trial involves key figures such as former CEO Markus Braun, Oliver Bellenhaus, and other former executives of the collapsed German FinTech company, Wirecard.
3. The allegations against them involve services related to accounting fraud, which is considered one of the largest in Germany's post-war history.
4. The trial took place in Munich, Bavaria, withservices and evidence being presented to shed light on the criminality surrounding the company's collapse.
5. German Finances have been significantly impacted by the Wirecard case, and the trial has garnered attention both in Germany and internationally, especially given the magnitude of the alleged fraud.
6. Oliver Bellenhaus, who has been in custody since July 2020, is a significant witness in the case, as he worked closely with former CEO Markus Braun and other executives at Wirecard.

Source: www.stern.de