Germany’s Wirecard fraud trial has opened, with ex-CEO Markus Braun and two former executives in the dock over their roles in the country’s biggest-ever accounting scandal.
The trial in Munich began on Thursday, two and a half years after the digital payments firm collapsed in spectacular fashion following admission that 1.9 billion euros ($2bn) missing from its accounts did not actually exist.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was finance minister at the time, described the scandal as “unparalleled” in Germany’s post-war history. Notably absent from the courtroom was Wirecard’s former chief operating officer, Jan Marsalek, a shadowy figure with ties to foreign intelligence agencies.
Marsalek evaded arrest in 2020 by staging a daring escape from Austria by private jet. He was reported earlier this year to be hiding out in Russia.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
