Former Wirecard chief executive Markus Braun has expressed “pain” over the collapse of his online payments company, but denied having any role in Germany’s largest-ever corporate fraud.
Giving evidence for the first time at his Munich trial, the 53-year-old said he had “no knowledge” of the fraud and embezzlement which investigators say masked a €1.9 billion hole in Wirecard’s accounts.
“I want to make clear that I reject all charges ... I had no idea that these funds were embezzled,” said Mr Braun, dressed in his trademark blazer, black polo-neck and rimless glasses.
Once a darling of Germany’s tech scene, Wirecard collapsed on June 18th, 2020, after the balance sheet shortfall was revealed – largely through non-existent accounts in the Philippines.
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In his statement, Braun described his “sheltered, middle-class” childhood as the son of a teacher and an adult education college director. Married with a four-year-old daughter, he studied business and joined consultancy firm KPMG.
As Wirecard chief executive he transformed it from a preferred payments platform of pornography websites to a blue chip listed company worth €20 billion. In his opening statement he insisted he was a “mediator” and not an “authoritarian” chief executive, and that, unlike others at Wirecard, he was “not part of a criminal racket”. As the largest shareholder, he insisted he had been defrauded along with other investors.
[ EY came close to uncovering Wirecard fraud in 2016Opens in new window ]
“On June 18th the world collapsed, my world,” he said, describing his memory of Wirecard’s end as a “dark wall”.
Mr Braun and two managers are on trial, while his number two, chief financial officer Jan Marsalek, is on the run.
Mr Braun said that Mr Marsalek, who was just 20 when he joined Wirecard, showed “remarkable cognitive skills” and “really stood out among the many talented people in the group”.
“It felt like he was a real stroke of luck,” he said.
After nearly two years in police custody, and two months of hearings in a five-judge Munich panel, Mr Braun faces cross-examination in the coming days.
Quizzed by judges on Monday about his involvement in company business, and claims he rewrote mandatory stock market notifications, Mr Braun said he assumed “this was legal, in the realm of the board’s judgment”.
His legal team have presented Mr Braun as the one who, confronted with claims of fraud, initiated the final audit that collapsed Wirecard.
[ Wirecard’s former CEO Markus Braun appears in court for historic trialOpens in new window ]
The ex-chief executive repeated those claims on Monday, that he learned of the fraud from the media. This contradicts evidence given by former Dubai-based Wirecard manager Oliver Bellenhaus, who allegedly transferred €340 million to Hong Kong-based companies.
The 49-year-old manager said Mr Braun was a dominant and interventionist boss who insisted he and others forge documents and make retrospective changes to accounts to suit the chief executive’s wishes.
By the end, Mr Bellenhaus told the Munich court that Wirecard had grown into a “cancerous tumour ... a system of organised fraud”.
Mr Braun’s defence team say Mr Bellenhaus, who has turned state’s evidence in hope of a milder sentence, is a gambler and “professional liar”.
