Processes - Wirecard: 'Why don't you recognize anything here?'
In the Wirecard case, the defendant in charge of accounting E., was put under increasingly critical questions from Presiding Judge Markus Födisch during his second day of testimony. "The question is, why didn't you notice that?" commented Födisch on E.'s explanations regarding discrepancies in account balances in 2017. At that time, according to E., there had initially been a missing 35 million Euro, which later appeared in a new confirmation but had been there all along. According to the judge, E. should have noticed this.
E. testified on the 139th hearing day that he had simply made a mistake due to a reversal, which was then corrected. He followed the same line of defense during his second day of testimony, shifting blame from himself. On the first day, he had emphasized that he was not even a bookkeeper.
Judge: "You should have checked the accounts"
Födisch's skepticism was evident. After all, it wasn't just about a wrong credit card invoice; it was about 35 million Euro. "I would have certainly asked what happened if it were 35 million", he said. The accounting relied on emails and a few balance confirmations, which had been incorrect multiple times. "You should have checked the accounts", he emphasized. The fact that an alleged person had made multiple errors should have raised suspicions, the judge added. Either the money was missing, or there were "absolute amateurs who couldn't write off a statement correctly".
The court had offered E. a deal of six to eight years in prison if he confessed before his testimony in the Wirecard case. However, given his previous statements, it is difficult to evaluate the significance of E.'s testimony so far.
1.9 billion Euro could no longer be found
Wirecard, a payment services provider, went into insolvency in June 2020 because 1.9 billion Euro, which had been debited to trust accounts, could no longer be located. The indictment accuses the three defendants, as well as the absconded former sales manager Jan Marsalek and other accomplices, of inventing billions in sales to keep the deficit-ridden Dax-group afloat.
In the trial, which began in December 2022, E. remained silent until Wednesday. Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun denies all allegations, while the cooperating former manager Oliver Bellenhaus testifies and accuses the two co-defendants.
- The process in the Wirecard court case placed E., the defendant in charge of accounting, under scrutiny for not noticing a 35 million Euro discrepancy in 2017, despite it later appearing in a new confirmation.
- During his second day of testimony, E., a bookkeeper from Munich, Germany, attributed the error to a reversal and subsequent correction, shifting blame away from himself.
- Födisch, the presiding judge, expressed his disbelief, stating that a mistake of such magnitude should have triggered an investigation given the alleged criminality surrounding Wirecard's financial activities in Bavaria.
- The defense strategy of E., who had previously downplayed his involvement as not being a bookkeeper, was met with skepticism as multiple account discrepancies and errors persisted, raising questions about the competence and potential involvement in falsifying financial records.
