Main defendant Wirecard denies responsibility for billion-dollar fraud US stock market stable and with strong profits after banking chaos and weak phase

The first phase of the Wirecard trial in Munich has been completed after a quarter of a year: the Munich I regional court ended the hearing of former CEO and main defendant Markus Braun on Wednesday.

The Austrian manager stressed that others were the real perpetrators: “Compelling evidence” showed that the Dax group, which collapsed in 2020, had been deprived of two billion euros. The taking of evidence will start next Thursday with the hearing of the first witnesses. First, police officers must provide an overview of the investigation.

Over the past four weeks, Braun has appeared in court at times more as a plaintiff than a defendant, giving several presentations and compiling an extensive collection of bank statements, emails and other documents to support his contention. “The evidence is overwhelming,” Braun said last week.

In what is considered the biggest fraud case in Germany since 1945, the former CEO and two other former Wirecard executives are charged with commercial gang fraud. According to the indictment, they have falsified Wirecard’s balance sheets since 2015 and damaged lending banks by 3.1 billion euros. 100 days of negotiations are planned until 2024. (aeg/sda/awp/dpa)