The payment service provider slipped into bankruptcy in 2020.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf In the financial scandal surrounding the payment service provider Wirecard, the Munich public prosecutor’s office brought charges against a former close confidante of the fugitive ex-Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek. She accuses businessman V. 26 of cases of willful money laundering, particularly serious fraud and violation of accounting obligations.
It is the first charge in a complex about the former Dax group, which has slipped into bankruptcy – even if it does not concern the core of the billion-dollar fraud that led to the collapse of Wirecard. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported about it first.
The proceedings against V. are about the fact that he allegedly transferred stolen Wirecard funds “through investments in German start-up companies in the legal economic cycle”. The whole thing is said to have run through the company IMS Capital, where V. held a responsible position.
V. was therefore involved from 2019 at the latest in “embezzling assets from the Wirecard Group in the amount of more than 22 million euros and systematically concealing the incriminated origin of the assets from the Wirecard Group using an installed money laundering system,” said the public prosecutor .
Marsalek, the former Libyan secret service chief O. and another business partner acted together with him.
V. is said to have not invested part of the misappropriated assets at Wirecard as agreed, but instead used around eight million euros for private purposes, including building his house and investing in its own holding company. However, there are chat histories that suggest that the use of the funds was agreed with Marsalek. Other chats also document that V. broke with the ex-board member after the Wirecard scandal was exposed and Marsalek went into hiding.
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V.’s defense attorney wanted to comment on the contents of the indictment and merely confirmed receipt.
V. and Marsalek met more than 20 years ago and were not only connected on business, but also met privately. At Wirecard, V. was seen by some as a “close friend of Jan”. He invested money for Marsalek for years and rented a villa for Germany’s most wanted man in Munich’s Prinzregentenstrasse, which served as a place of retreat.
Through the now insolvent company IMS Capital, he made corporate investments for wealthy private individuals, mostly in start-ups. Among other things, IMS Capital was the largest shareholder in the online supermarket Getnow and also participated in a manufacturer of corona rapid tests. One of the main investors in IMS is said to have been Marsalek, who could have contributed a higher double-digit million amount. Marsalek is also said to have played a key role in determining what happens with funds there, although he did not have an official role at IMS
IMS Capital’s official sponsors were two Turkish companies controlled by O. O. should be heard as a witness in the possible trial against V.
According to information from the Handelsblatt, the public prosecutor sees a risk of escape with V. and wanted to reinstate a currently suspended arrest warrant against him. The Munich Higher Regional Court apparently rejected the application.
In the main complex surrounding the multi-billion dollar fraud scandal at Wirecard, the prosecutors of the Munich I public prosecutor are currently working flat out on an indictment against former CEO Markus Braun. This should be collected in the first quarter of 2021.
More: Wirecard and Marsalek: New tracks lead to Turkey.