2023-07-18 16:57:22
In the Wirecard scandal, the main suspect, Jan Marsalek, who has been in hiding for three years, reported to the Munich judiciary through his defense attorney. A letter from the lawyer was received at the Munich I district court, a spokesman for the court said on Tuesday. The court spokesman did not name the content or details of the letter.
A spectacular development became known on Tuesday in the Wirecard scandal, which has been processed in Munich since last year in one of the largest German fraud processes. One of the volatile main suspects, the Austrian Jan Marsalek (43), reported to the judiciary in Munich through his lawyer. This was confirmed to the SN on Tuesday evening by both a court spokesman in Munich and the defender of the fugitive manager. Marsalek was the right hand of the accused ex-CEO Markus Braun (53) for years.
The judiciary did not provide any information about the content of the letter that was sent to the Munich Regional Court last week. The fugitive ex-manager’s lawyer declined to comment on the reason for the letter. “I don’t want to comment on that,” said the defender. According to the German “Wirtschaftswoche”, the lawyer does not specifically address the allegations of fraud against the Austrian manager in the letter. Braun continues to pursue the strategy in the ongoing process that he didn’t notice anything about the balance sheet tricks. In truth, it was Marsalek and his informants who had withdrawn trust funds from Asia behind the backs of the other executives.
One can only speculate about Marsalek’s whereabouts. In any case, he did not turn himself in, according to the Munich judiciary.
Three years ago, when the payment service provider, which is listed on the German stock exchange index DAX, slipped into bankruptcy worth billions, Marsalek had fled abroad, while Braun has been in custody since then.
In the summer of 2020, Marsalek flew with a chartered private jet from Bad Vöslau in Lower Austria towards Belarus and on to Russia. His helpers are said to have been the former FPÖ MP Thomas Schellenbacher and an ex-employee of the BVT (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism). Marsalek is said to be living in the posh Moscow suburb of Razdory, protected by the Russian domestic secret service FSB. That’s what the prosecutors in Munich assumed when they asked Russia in spring 2022 to arrest Marsalek, who was wanted around the world – which obviously didn’t happen, and in any case he wasn’t extradited.
Wirecard collapsed within a few weeks between June and July 2020 because 1.9 billion euros in proceeds from so-called third-party partner transactions that had been officially booked in Southeast Asian trust accounts could not be found. As the group’s former head of sales, Marsalek is a key figure.
In the Munich Wirecard trial, which has been going on for eight months, the defenders of ex-CEO Markus Braun have accused the absent Marsalek of plundering the group without Braun’s knowledge and involvement and of embezzling two billion euros in business proceeds together with accomplices. One of Braun’s two co-defendants, Oliver Bellenhaus (49), the former head of the Wirecard subsidiary Cardsystems Middle East in Dubai, made a comprehensive confession that he is a key witness in the mega process, which is likely to last until 2024.
According to “Wirtschaftswoche”, Marsalek’s lawyer should comment in the letter on the existence of the so-called third-party business at Wirecard. In what way is not yet known. According to the indictment, a criminal gang in the management team of the company with Braun’s participation invented bogus deals to deceive banks and investors. According to Braun, the business was by no means invented, but the proceeds from Marsalek and Co. are said to have been set aside.
The trial will continue on Wednesday. Braun’s and Marsalek’s former board colleague Susanne Steidl, who was responsible for product development at Wirecard, should take a seat on the witness stand. She is also Austrian.
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