Executive at payments giant suspected of using forged contracts
Wirecard’s internal presentation pointed to possible ‘falsification of accounts’
A senior Wirecard executive was last year suspected of using forged and backdated contracts in a string of suspicious transactions that raise questions about the integrity of the accounting at one of Europe’s rare technology success stories.
An internal presentation described potentially fraudulent money flows at Wirecard, a fintech group valued at €20bn, which last year surpassed Deutsche Bank in market capitalisation and supplanted Commerzbank in Germany’s prestigious Dax 30 index.
According to the presentation and other documents seen as part of a Financial Times investigation, the transactions were ordered by Edo Kurniawan, who is responsible for the payments group’s accounting in the Asia-Pacific region.
Titled “Project Tiger Summary” and dated May 7 2018, the presentation outlined potential violations of Singapore law, including “falsification of accounts” and “money laundering”. Mr Kurniawan remains employed in the same position of responsibility at the group’s regional head office in Singapore.
The whistleblower who briefed the FT on the document was motivated to do so, the person said, out of a concern that no action appeared to have been taken over potentially criminal acts inside a company presenting itself as a blue-chip financial institution.
Reached at his desk in Singapore on Wednesday, Mr Kurniawan said he was in a meeting. “I’m closing off the group audit at this moment,” he said, and asked for questions to be sent by email. He did not respond to emailed questions.
The news of suspect transactions rekindles questions about Wirecard’s accounting and internal controls which have dogged the company for more than a decade. Critical investors and analysts raised concerns about the group’s financial statements in 2008, 2015, and 2016, citing apparent inconsistencies. On each occasion Wirecard claimed it was subject to stock market manipulation and insisted the published figures were sound.
Markus Braun, chief executive since he helped recapitalise the company in 2002, has become a billionaire selling his vision of a cashless society. The company owns a bank and is a member of the Visa and Mastercard payment networks, distributing hundreds of millions of euros in credit and debit card transactions every day. It is a gatekeeper with responsibilities to help police flows of cash as governments try to restrict the ability of criminals and terrorists to move their money around.
Wirecard has denied any wrongdoing. It said it took all compliance and regulatory obligations extremely seriously, it had “stringent internal and external audits” and any concerns “are always thoroughly and appropriately investigated”. It also said that no material compliance findings as to the governance and accounting practices of any Wirecard subsidiary nor the personal conduct of Mr Kurniawan had resulted from its continuous internal and external audit activities.
The Project Tiger document was prepared by a Wirecard compliance officer for a presentation to the company’s four most senior executives, led by Mr Braun, on May 8. It sets out, in graphic form, how about €37m appeared to have been moved in and out of Wirecard subsidiaries and external businesses, across seven sets of complex transactions, flagged as suspicious.