Inside WirecardGerman payments processor has battled allegations of fraud, forgery and opaque business links.Wirecard forged client details to secure €900mn investment from SoftBankCollapsed German payments group fabricated data to reassure Japanese investorWirecard’s former top accountant admits forging documents for KPMG special auditStephan von Erffa said fabricated payment authorisation was an isolated event Wirecard: the case against Markus Braun The former chief executive of the German payments company that went bust with debts of €3bn faces fraud charges Former Wirecard chief executive charged with fraudMunich public prosecutors charge Markus Braun over the collapse of the payments groupGerman prosecutors file first charges in Wirecard fraudAuthorities last month charged business associate of former payments group executive Jan MarsalekEY and Wirecard: anatomy of a flawed audit First-hand testimony paints a picture of missed opportunities to uncover the fraud and a failure to understand a company EY audited for a decade More from this SeriesWirecard: a record of deception, disarray and mismanagement Documents reveal the German payments company was chaotic, byzantine and often ineffective Rent payment clue in the hunt for Wirecard’s Jan MarsalekMunich police investigated €80,000 transfer to landlord of fugitive executive’s fiancéeTop German asset manager takes Wirecard administrator to court over lossesLandmark lawsuit will be closely watched by payments group’s former shareholders, bondholders and lendersProsecutors drop Wirecard insider trading probe into ex-Deutsche board member German authorities say evidence against Alexander Schütz does not justify a formal investigationCourt orders Commerzbank to rehire former Wirecard analyst Heike Pauls was fired after she briefed collapsed group’s management about criticism Wirecard chair’s house and office raided by German police Prosecutors investigate whether Wulf Matthias assisted in embezzlement at disgraced payments groupPhilippine authorities file criminal complaint against ex-Wirecard COONational Bureau of Investigation recommends Jan Marsalek faces charges over collapse of German payment group EY Europe revamp has partners worried over Wirecard damageAccountancy firm prepares to combine businesses, prompting concern over profit and liability sharingMark Tolentino: the flamboyant lawyer embroiled in the Wirecard scandalFilipino denies he was a trustee for the payments group and describes himself as a ‘victim’ in the scandalEY audit failings on Wirecard laid bare in ‘dynamite’ report German parliamentary investigator found the accountancy firm missed opportunities to identify fraudWirecard’s reluctant whistleblower tells his story: ‘They tried to destroy me’Pav Gill, who exposed one of Europe’s biggest corporate frauds, says doing the right thing ‘always has a cost’Lithuanian fintech under scrutiny over potential role in Wirecard fraudUAB Finolita Unio processed tens of millions of euros that went to now fugitive executiveMarsalek’s assistant handled six-digit amounts of cash in plastic bagsFormer Wirecard employee told MPs that one of the withdrawals was for a businessman convicted in USEY fraud expert: ‘incomprehensible’ that Wirecard ‘red flags’ were ignored Christian Muth told German MPs his ‘professional honour’ had been hurt after his findings were dismissed Wirecard enjoyed ‘no special treatment’, says MerkelGerman chancellor defends 2019 lobbying in China on behalf of payments companyWirecard employees removed millions in cash using shopping bagsProsecutors suspect funds linked to hidden payments operations in AsiaGerman parliament expands probe into EY’s audits of Wirecard Inquiry committee extends remit and timeframe for special investigator after scathing initial report Jan Marsalek’s behind-the-scenes role in Wirecard’s most contentious dealPayment group’s fugitive ex-COO worked to improve the websites of Indian companies later acquiredWirecard fraud ‘started more than a decade ago’ Ex-executive told prosecutors that from 2010 he set up shell companies used to siphon off fundsEY faces questions over alleged idea to abort KPMG’s Wirecard audit Big Four auditor grilled by German MPs in marathon hearings about its role in huge accounting fraudEY overhauls German partnership in effort to repair Wirecard damage Leadership is split just weeks before partners testify at inquiry into payment group’s collapseGerman accounting watchdog chief to step down in wake of WirecardThird supervisory body loses leadership as insolvency scandal continues to take its toll Top Deutsche banker wooed clients for Wirecard months before collapse Werner Steinmüller brokered meetings with potential Asian partners for more than a yearGermany to beef up financial regulator in wake of Wirecard scandalNew task force will have capacity to carry out forensic audits of companies suspected of fraudBaFin bosses forced out over handling of Wirecard scandalFelix Hufeld and Elisabeth Roegele depart as heads of Germany’s financial regulator BaFin boss ‘believed’ Wirecard was victim until near the endFelix Hufeld thought short sellers might have faked the disappearance of €1.9bn, three people and document sayDeutsche board member urged ex-Wirecard CEO to ‘do [the FT] in!!’Austrian financier Alexander Schütz called on Markus Braun to do more to rebut FT’s critical reportingCommerzbank warned BaFin about Wirecard in early 2020German lender severed some ties with the payments group after internal reviewWhistleblower warned EY of Wirecard fraud four years before collapseExclusive: Employee at payments group’s longtime auditor flagged suspicious accounting and attempted bribery in 2016Wirecard: the scandal spreads to German politicsAngela Merkel and other leading politicians continued to lobby for the payments group even as the warning signs grew Wirecard: the frantic final months of a fraudulent operationA plan to buy Deutsche Bank is now seen as part of a desperate effort to disguise fraud at the German payments group Wirecard: the timeline | Free to readHow the payments group became one of the hottest stocks in Europe while battling persistent allegations of fraudWirecard and me: Dan McCrum on exposing a criminal enterpriseIntimidation, surveillance and conspiracy theories: inside the FT’s five-year investigation of a billion-dollar fraudGerman parliament to open full inquiry into Wirecard collapseDecision comes as MPs question why regulators failed to detect huge corporate fraudProsecutors suspect Wirecard was looted before collapsePayments provider ramped up unsecured loans to opaque business partners in Asia to $1bn earlier this year Wirecard chief and 730 staff cut as administrator takes chargePositions go as November date is set for first creditors’ meeting Wirecard business partner reported dead in PhilippinesChristopher Bauer was being investigated over the collapse of the German payments groupGreenlight’s Einhorn says Wirecard fraud was ‘hiding in plain sight’Short seller attacks regulator and auditors in investor letter for failing to detect signsWirecard processed payments for mafia-linked casinoMalta-based gaming company CenturionBet was used by the ’Ndrangheta crime organisation to launder moneyWirecard scandal will drive supervision overhaul, says EU economy chiefPrevious failed attempt to reinforce EU watchdogs was a ‘missed opportunity’, says DombrovskisFormer Wirecard CEO rearrested and accused of long-running fraudMarkus Braun and other executives detained in wake of collapse of once high-flying German technology groupWirecard’s Markus Braun took €35m loan from group’s banking armRegulators examining deal that is said to have provoked a ‘furious’ reaction from board Wirecard made this short seller right but not richLeo Perry of Ennismore Fund Management long believed that payments group was a fraudMcKinsey warned Wirecard a year ago to take ‘immediate action’ on controlsManagement board later passed over consultancy for compliance work in favour of PwCFrom payments to armaments: the double life of Wirecard’s Jan Marsalek | Free to readA suspect in one of Germany’s biggest financial frauds talked of assembling a Libyan militia and bragged of adventures with Russian troops Germany to overhaul accounting regulation after Wirecard collapse Watchdog’s powers to be transferred to BaFin as deputy finance minister calls for ‘radical solutions’Markus Braun, Wirecard chief goes from billionaire to bailArrest on Monday came days before German payments processor’s collapse on ThursdayEY failed to check Wirecard bank statements for 3 yearsAuditor of insolvent payments group under fire for failing to detect fraudWirecard collapses into insolvency Auditor EY says it found ‘clear indications of elaborate and sophisticated fraud’ at German payments companyWirecard scandal leaves German regulators under firePoliticians turn scrutiny on BaFin as implosion of payments group hurts Germany’s reputationEx-Wirecard chief Markus Braun arrestedRegulators act to ringfence group’s bank as former head released from custody on €5m bailSoftBank executives set to lose profits from Wirecard tradeUnit of Japanese technology group engineered intricate $1bn bet on German payments company’s stockWirecard fights for survival as it admits scale of fraudPolice open probe and regulator says affair is ‘a shame’ for Germany as payments group withdraws previous results Wirecard’s €1.9bn never entered Philippine financial system, bank governor saysFresh doubt cast on German group’s explanation for missing depositsWhy was Frankfurt so blind for so long about Wirecard?Germany’s financial establishment too often views harsh criticism of corporations as an affrontThe fund managers who kept faith with WirecardTim Albrecht of DWS and Alexander Darwall of Devon Equity Management made outsized bets despite fraud warningsWirecard chief quits as crisis deepensMarkus Braun resigns as payment group’s shares continue to collapse and investors threaten legal actionWirecard’s future in doubt after missing cash sparks investor flightAuditor’s findings trigger collapse in German group’s stock market valueWirecard says €1.9bn of cash is missingShares of payments group crash as it says a third party may have tried ‘to deceive’ its auditor Wirecard: what KPMG’s report foundThe payments group had predicted vindication from a special audit — it did not arriveHow the paper trail went cold in KPMG’s special audit of Wirecard The accounting firm struggled to verify €1bn of payments held by an uncooperative trusteeWirecard offices searched as prosecutors probe management boardGerman financial watchdog filed criminal complaint against CEO Markus Braun and three other top executivesKPMG unable to verify Wirecard’s third-party profitsAccounting firm also complained of obstacles in completing special audit of German payments groupWirecard: inside an accounting scandalA preliminary report by a top law firm has unveiled a pattern of suspected book-padding across the group’s Asian operationsWirecard’s suspect accounting practices revealedFT Investigation: internal documents from the payments company point to a concerted effort to fraudulently inflate sales and profitsWirecard critics targeted in London spy operationFormer Libyan intelligence chief oversaw surveillance of investors including Crispin OdeyKPMG widens review of Wirecard accountingSpecial audit will now look at accusations concerning type of lending made to merchantsWirecard’s singular approach to counting cash German fintech boosted its cash reserves using trust accounts from its payments processing operationsWirecard: the unanswered questionsGerman fintech company’s rebuttal of the FT’s reporting leaves unanswered questionsWirecard’s problem partnersHalf of the German company’s revenues come from partners but at some there is a mismatch with the reality on the groundWirecard document points to reliance on 3 partnersCompany fails to explain why spreadsheet’s data should be disregardedSenior Wirecard executives approved transactions in fraud probeDocuments indicate Jan Marsalek was aware of €2m transfer investigated by Singapore police Wirecard boss tells staff accounting allegations ‘known and addressed’Markus Braun posts Twitter video after reports that executives approved transactions at centre of criminal probeThe engineering behind SoftBank’s Wirecard betJapanese tech group is buying convertible bond that can be repaid in stockPolice raid Wirecard’s Singapore officesAuthorities step up action against German fintech group following FT investigationWirecard relied on three opaque partners for almost all its profitWhistleblowers claim unit of German payments group was not auditedWirecard affair shows up German tendency to close ranksFast-growing start-ups require robust oversight of their global operationsWirecard’s meteoric rise prompts questionsControversy dogs payments company that has a valuation of more than 40 times next year’s expected earningsJapan’s SoftBank to invest €900m in WirecardGerman payments company prepares to reveal annual results amid accounting scandalWirecard says some Singapore employees may face criminal liabilityGerman fintech group’s shares surge after it says probe by lawyers found ‘no material impact’Wirecard ‘loses contact’ with executive at heart of accounting scandalSingapore court dismisses fintech group’s attempt to limit scope of investigationGerman regulator files complaint on alleged Wirecard manipulationBaFin targets two FT journalists and several short-sellers after reports hit payments group’s share priceExecutive at Wirecard suspected of using forged contractsInternal presentation pointed to possible ‘falsification of accounts’Wirecard’s law firm found evidence of forgery and false accountsGerman payments company provides no comment on internal investigationWirecard: a “final” R&T report does not existAnd how could it when the cops are still investigating?Deutsche Bank revealed as behind €150m loan to Wirecard founderGerman lender took almost half Markus Braun’s stake in payments group as collateralMensch! Dan McCrum is innocent, ok?The market in Wirecard was not manipulated.German regulator bans shorting of Wirecard sharesBaFin cites ‘serious threat to market confidence’ following collapse in stock priceWirecard discloses investigation into accounting allegations Singapore police are looking into matter but shares gain on group’s reassurancesGerman regulators probe price decline at WirecardBaFin investigates ‘potential market manipulation’ of payments group
