The defense attorney for the former Wirecard CEO complained about the alleged prejudice of his accused in the past few months.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich The defense attorney for the accused ex-Wirecard boss Markus Braun is trying to shake the credibility of the prosecutor’s key witness. Lawyer Alfred Dierlamm attacked the former governor of Wirecard in Dubai, Oliver Bellenhaus, on Monday before the Munich I District Court. His statements to the public prosecutor’s office are not credible and implausible.
Dierlamm said: “Bellenhaus is not a key witness. Bellenhaus is the main perpetrator of a gang” whose goal was to divert and embezzle funds from the company. Braun has been prejudged since Wirecard’s bankruptcy in June 2020 like no other of his clients in 30 years, said the Wiesbaden lawyer.
“The prejudgment is unprecedented and formative for this process,” said Dierlamm. The Munich Higher Regional Court, which was responsible for Braun’s pre-trial detention, and the Bundestag’s Wirecard investigative committee were also taken in by Bellenhaus’s false testimony.
Markus Braun’s lawyer told the district court: Bellenhaus only tells “told stories”. His statements cannot be trusted. Bellenhaus wanted to exonerate himself with his statements and shift the blame to the ex-CEO Braun.
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In addition, the former Wirecard governor in Dubai destroyed evidence to cover up the fact that he had embezzled large amounts – which Wirecard AG would actually have been entitled to – via letterbox companies in the Caribbean. Lawyer Dierlamm says: “Through this massive blackout action, the alleged key witness of the public prosecutor’s office has withdrawn the data basis for the entire procedure.”
The law enforcement authorities assess the evidence in the Wirecard case differently. According to the indictment, the Munich public prosecutor’s office believes Braun to be the head of a criminal gang that has falsified the balance sheets of the former stock market darling for years and invented bogus deals worth billions to cover up losses.
Defender Dierlammn described the fact that his client was the leader of a gang as “downright absurd and far-fetched notion”.
(Photo: Reuters)
The 53-year-old Austrian sees himself as a victim of managers around the fugitive former CEO Jan Marsalek, who would have saved billions. Defender Dierlamm accused the investigators of bias and serious investigation errors at the beginning of the process. After Marsalek’s escape, the public prosecutor’s office was under pressure to succeed.
Application for suspension of the Wirecard process
So it was clear: “Markus Braun had to be behind bars.” This “narrative” is still attached to Braun today. The ex-CEO, who has been celebrated as a visionary for years, has been in custody for around two and a half years. Despite several complaints against the pre-trial detention, the competent court decided to leave Braun in prison.
The defense attorney linked his opening statement in the hearing to an application to suspend the fraud process against his client, Bellenhaus, and the former chief accountant at Wirecard, Stephan von Erffa. He needed more time to examine “the files that were poured on our desks”.
Sometimes the defense is “flooded” with files. Just a few weeks before the trial began, more than 40,000 pages of material had been received. Lawyer Dierlamm adds: The public prosecutor’s office in Munich I also sent many electronic files in a damaged state. Therefore, he cannot evaluate them. This is one of the reasons why Markus Braun is currently unable to testify.
Also read about the Wirecard process:
The ex-CEO of Wirecard and his defense insist that Wirecard’s lucrative business with third-party partners in Asia – contrary to what Bellenhaus claims – actually existed after 2015. This is also evident from the bank statements of the third-party partners in Germany, which were only checked later by the public prosecutor’s office.
It documents deposits of almost one billion euros between 2016 and 2020. “Absolutely zero euros, as Mr. Bellenhaus lied to the public prosecutor’s office.” 750 million euros flowed to four companies controlled by Bellenhaus alone. Among other things, Bellenhaus controlled a company on Antigua in the Caribbean.
Due to these circumstances, defense counsel Dierlamm requested that the proceedings before the Munich Regional Court 1 be suspended and that the public prosecutor’s office continue to investigate. Dierlamm described the fact that Braun was the leader of a gang as “downright absurd and far-fetched notion”. After all, he held on to his Wirecard shares “with the full conviction of the intrinsic value of his portfolio”.
Florian Eder, Oliver Bellenhaus’ lawyer, has not yet commented on the process.
With agency material
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