According to SPIEGEL information, Finance State Secretary Jörg Kukies spoke with the then Wirecard boss Markus Braun in November 2019 about the auditing firm KPMG. The German Government declared this documents as TOP SECRET! Content - Wirecard's Business with China, supported by the German Government

Sources: 17.7.20.16:00 Isaan News, Der Spiegel, Handelsblatt, TSP, dpa

According to SPIEGEL information, Finance State Secretary Jörg Kukies spoke with the then Wirecard boss Markus Braun in November 2019 about the accounting firm KPMG, which had just started a special audit by the Dax company. This is clear from secret documents from the federal government, which MPs had access to.

The Ministry of Finance had initially refused to disclose the content of two talks that Kukies had had in September and November 2019, and in response to inquiries from Greens and Leftists, cited "secret protection interests". Instead, deputies who were interested in the talks were referred to the Bundestag's secret service, where information should be available.

However, the documents deposited were apparently disappointing. Only one conversation in November was reported, it says - in a few lines: There was talk among other things about Wirecard and the special audit of the KPMG, there was no protocol. Strange detail: While November 5 was mentioned in the public response to the parties as the date of the conversation, November 15 appeared to be in the confidential documents.

The KPMG report was published in April and had given Wirecard a devastating testimony.

Exactly what Kukies spoke to Braun about Wirecard's KPMG special audit is not reported. Nevertheless - or precisely because of this - Kukies' behavior raises questions. The fact that no minutes were kept was irritated during the conversation. Finally, it was a sensitive issue.

Has Kukies been soothed by Braun?
In addition, Kukies' ministry is the employer of financial supervision Bafin, Kukies heads the board of directors. The authority is accused of laxing the allegedly fraudulent balance sheet fraud against the group from Aschheim near Munich despite the allegations against Wirecard that have been circulating for years - even after Wirecard himself commissioned KPMG with the special audit. Bafin, on the other hand, believes that it lacked the necessary skills.

What was the reason for the conversation between Kukies and Braun? Has Kukies been soothed by Braun? Was he alarmed and wanted to personally inquire with the company boss about the background of the allegations in the room? If so, why didn't the conversation have any further consequences?

The Secretary of State may have to answer these and similar questions soon. A video conference with members of the Bundestag Finance Committee is scheduled to focus on the topic of Wirecard again.

The State Secretary von Scholz is said to have supported Wirecard and provided connections to China. Now a prime suspect wants to cooperate with the authorities.

The State Secretary of Olaf Scholz is said to have supported Wirecard in doing business with China, although the Ministry of Finance under Minister Olaf Scholz already knew about the investigation against the company. This is reported by "Der Spiegel".

State Secretary Wolfgang Schmidt had therefore informed the Chinese Ministry of Finance about the planned market entry of Wirecards, as the Ministry of Finance informed the "Spiegel" on request.

According to the report, Schmidt is said to have informed "his Chinese counterpart, Vice Minister Liao Min in the Ministry of Finance" in June 2019 about Wirecard's ambitions. This procedure was not discussed with Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.


On February 19, 2019, Scholz was to be informed that the financial supervisory authority Bafin "is investigating in all directions for market manipulation, that is, both against those responsible at Wirecard AG and against people who have evidence of participation in market manipulation," reported the " Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ”in its Friday edition.

Schmidt informed the Chinese Ministry of Finance about Wirecard after "Spitzberg Partners", the consulting firm of the former Minister of Economic Affairs Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, had lobbied the Wirecard for the federal government, according to "Der Spiegel".

Secret documents: According to SPIEGEL information, State Secretary for Finance Kukies spoke with the then # Wirecard boss MarkusBraunauch about the auditing firm KPMG, which had just started a special audit by the Dax company.

The BMF also had to admit that State Secretary Jörg Kukies, an ex-banker from Goldman Sachs, exchanged views with Wirecard boss Markus Braun at a time when KPMG's special auditors were already examining the company's balance sheets.

According to the progress report, Federal Finance Ministry was informed on February 19, 2019 that "Bafin is investigating market manipulation in all directions, i.e. both against those responsible at Wirecard AG and against people who have evidence of participation in market manipulation." During a phone call on March 8, 2019, State Secretary Jörg Kukies (52) and Bafin boss Felix Hufeld (59) spoke, among other things, about Bafin's actions against Wirecard AG due to possible market manipulation.

The financial leader of the Union faction, Hans Michelbach (71), was "extremely angry". "The withholding of information and the holding back of Parliament in the Wirecard affair are no longer acceptable and must end," said Michelbach. The status report, which was originally promised for Wednesday, was only received by the deputies on Thursday. "Everything has to be on the table at last. It has to be done with the fact that, as in the past, the Finance Committee is kept secret," said Michelbach.


Green finance politician Danyal Bayaz (36) criticized that Scholz had so far completely avoided the Wirecard case in the Bundestag. "There are still many questions open in the Wirecard case - including the role of the Federal Ministry of Finance," said Bayaz. "The impression of collective irresponsibility is also reinforced by the fact that Olaf Scholz was informed about the Wirecard case in early 2019." Scholz also had to ask other questions in the finance committee. "The federal government wants to divert responsibility for supervisory failure solely to EY's auditors," said left-wing politician Fabio de Masi (40). The Federal Government and the financial regulator Bafin were constantly involved in contradictions.

In the case of  Wirecard, it was "essentially a suspected system of fraudulent structures with international dimensions," wrote the Ministry of Finance in the progress report. The two-stage balance sheet control had reached its limits.

Wirecard filed for bankruptcy at the end of June after the company had to admit that the 1.9 billion euros of cash on the balance sheet that were allegedly held in Asian bank accounts could not be found.

Suspect wants to cooperate - former board member submerged
Now one of the most important suspects wants to cooperate with the public prosecutor. This was confirmed by the lawyer of the ex-chief of the Wirecard subsidiary Cardsystems Middle East, who was in custody, on Friday: "My client voluntarily accepted the procedure and, unlike others, stands by his individual responsibility." .

The defense lawyer emphasized that he had not spoken of a confession. The Munich public prosecutor, in turn, stated that it could neither confirm the interrogation nor provide information on it.

Former CEO Markus Braun also wants to cooperate, but former sales director Jan Marsalek has gone underground ( he went "home" to Russia where he had his friends support his Fraud). Cardsystems Middle East played a central role in the alleged bogus transactions with which Wirecard's balance sheets were inflated by 1.9 billion euros.

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As can be seen from the balance sheet of the parent company Wirecard AG for 2018, this company reported the majority of the profits booked. Out of a total of 45 companies, there were only three that were significantly profitable: The Cardsystems in Dubai contributed 237 million euros - presumably in whole or at least for the most part.

This company has since been dissolved, doing business with a large subcontractor named Al Alam, who allegedly processed payments on behalf of Wirecard but had no licenses from the major credit card companies. The British Financial Times made this public last year
.

Wirecard did not make too much money “regularly”
As can be seen from the publicly visible commercial register of Al Alam, the company was registered in 2013, meanwhile it has also been dissolved.

Apart from the alleged apparent profits of Cardsystems, not too much money was made at Wirecard: Wirecard Technologies, which operates the Group's existing payment platform, posted a profit of 129 million euros in 2018, an Irish subsidiary 62 million euros. The other companies, including Wirecard Bank, either made very small profits or wrote losses.

Source:Isaan News BdP 20.2.2020-10AM

Karl Theodor of Guttenberg, former German Minister, was a Key advisor to Wirecard's Braun and Marsalek, advised also Finanzminister Olaf Scholz and the german Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel!  ...more