Fact check
Is it true: Wirecard Fraud?
Yes — this is confirmed.
Wirecard AG was a German payments processor listed on the DAX index. Financial Times reporter Dan McCrum began investigating suspicious accounting in 2014; FT published multiple exposés 2019-2020. Wirecard, German regulator BaFin, and German auditor EY defended the company. Wirecard and BaFin filed criminal complaints against the FT reporters. On June 18, 2020, Wirecard's own auditor EY announced €1.9B in Trust Accounts in the Philippines (where Wirecard claimed the money was held) could not be confirmed. CEO Markus Braun resigned and was arrested. COO Jan Marsalek fled; reportedly now in Russia with alleged GRU ties. Wirecard filed for insolvency June 25, 2020. Trial of Braun began 2022; German parliament inquiry criticized BaFin for failing to act on FT reports. McCrum's book Money Men (2022) is the definitive journalistic account.
The claim
Wirecard AG, a German fintech (payments processing) once valued at €24B, collapsed in June 2020 after admitting that €1.9B in reported assets "probably did not exist." Multi-year accounting fraud invo
Key evidence
FT McCrum 2019-2020 exposés
Some Wirecard subsidiaries were real businesses
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