The indictment in the criminal proceedings for the billions in fraud at Wirecard is essentially based on the testimony of key witness Oliver Bellenhaus. He was once Wirecard governor in Dubai.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf In the criminal proceedings surrounding the multi-billion dollar fraud scandal, co-defendant star witness Oliver Bellenhaus is the biggest adversary of ex-CEO Markus Braun. The statements made by the former Wirecard governor in Dubai brought Braun to prison in the summer of 2020, and the majority of the charges are based on his statements. So far, Bellenhaus is the only one of the three accused who has admitted involvement in the fraud.
In the past few weeks, the 49-year-old has described in detail how the fraud scandal came about at Wirecard and also what role Markus Braun is said to have played in it.
According to Bellenhaus, Braun has been an “absolute CEO.”
“If he said something, it was done that way,” said Bellenhaus. “Dr. Braun had an overwhelming talent for storytelling,” said Bellenhaus. The CEO had set completely unrealistic growth targets that could only be achieved with fake numbers. The forecasts for the respective year were not made at the beginning of the year, but were adjusted to the respective needs at the end of the year. The yardstick was the share price and every means was right for its increase.
Third party business never existed
In reality, however, the group’s business has suffered in all areas. The way out was invented business with so-called third-party partners, said Bellenhaus. “It was always perfectly clear that Dr. Braun supports that,” Bellenhaus explained to the court.
The third-party partners were companies that officially processed credit card payments on behalf of Wirecard in countries where the group itself did not have a corresponding license. Allegedly, the multi-billion dollar proceeds from the so-called TPA business (Third Party Acquirer) were held in escrow accounts in Asia. In June 2020 it was revealed that the funds did not exist.
While Braun and his lawyers argue that a gang led by Bellenhaus and Marsalek embezzled the funds from the existing third-party business behind his back, Bellenhaus clearly denied this in court. The TPA deal never existed.
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According to Bellenhaus, the transactions with which Braun wanted to prove the existence of the third-party business were other transactions and sham transactions in which Wirecard transferred money in a circle in order to simulate an alleged business.
The auditors were misled. Bellenhaus explained that the unpleasant things had to be done by the aides. He himself assumed responsibility for the invented business with third-party partners, the accused ex-chief accountant Stephan von Erffa “the details of the embellished balance sheets” and the fugitive ex-Asia board member Jan Marsalek took care of the management of the helpers and extras”.
Braun also gave “operational instructions”. According to Bellenhaus, he spoke to Braun on the phone or met him at least once a quarter. In addition, most of the communication took place via the messenger services Telegram and Signal. According to Bellenhaus, he sometimes had to convert figures at short notice.
The concerns he expressed were ignored by Erffa with the words: “It’s not possible. Markus wants it that way.”
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