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. |