Wirecard-Prozess: Richter zerpflücken Opferthese von Markus Braun

In the Munich Wirecard trial concerning the years-long billion-dollar fraud at the helm of a 2020 collapsed DAX company, a long prison sentence for former CEO Markus Braun appears increasingly likely. After over three and a half years of trial, the judges declared Braun's asserted "victim" theory to be a "speculation." "After extensive investigations, nothing has emerged," said presiding judge Markus Födisch.

Furthermore, in the event of a conviction, Braun and his two co-defendants would face the prospect of millions of euros being seized. "No credible evidence" of genuine business dealings with third parties was presented. According to the indictment, Braun and his accomplices had fraudulently recorded billions of euros in fictitious transactions in Wirecard's balance sheets over several years.

These transactions were primarily recorded through three so-called "third parties" in Dubai, Singapore, and the Philippines. They were companies that allegedly handled credit card payments in Asian countries on Wirecard's behalf. The existence of this "third-party business" was unsupported by any evidence, the judge stated. The court declared Braun's theories to be unconvincing.

Former Austrian manager claimed the third-party transactions were genuine, profiting from the lost ex-vice president Jan Marsalek without the CEO's knowledge. The judges noted there was no indication of misappropriation. Braun has been under continuous pre-trial detention since July 2020 - if the 1969-born former stock market star had been found innocent, he would have been released.

The judges emphasized that the "downturn" should be seized. The trial, which opened in December 2022, is heading towards the shooting phase. The judges formally informed the three defendants that the chamber could seize "downturn" in the event of a conviction. For Braun, this amounts to nearly 39 million euros, most of which was invested in his personal investment company.

The main witness, Oliver Bellenhaus, who confirmed the prosecution's key points, is owed around six million euros. The third defendant is the former chief accountant E., to whom over 600,000 euros could be seized. The scandal, however, also led to Brauns' investment company filing for bankruptcy. The former billionaire had invested the bulk of his fortune in now worthless Wirecard shares, from which the former CEO had long had no access to the remaining funds.