Wirecard news and trends

German Prosecutors Charge 2 Former Wirecard Executives With Embezzlement
Security & Fraud // August 06, 2024

Four years after the collapse of online payments company Wirecard, German prosecutors have reportedly charged two more of the firm’s former executives. Wirecard’s former finance chief, Alexander von Knoop, and its former board member for product development, Susanne Steidl, have been charged with several counts...

German Agency Criticizes EY’s Audits of Wirecard
Security & Fraud // April 19, 2024

A German regulator has reportedly concluded that EY’s audit work and quality control regarding the now-defunct payments firm Wirecard was marked by “grave” and “repeated” violations of professional duties. The regulator, Apas, said this in a review that was published Friday (April 19) and ended a multiyear...

Wirecard’s Insolvency Manager Files Lawsuit Against EY in Germany
Legal // December 29, 2023

Wirecard’s insolvency manager, Michael Jaffé, filed a lawsuit in a court in Stuttgart against accountancy firm EY. The lawsuit claims 1.5 billion euros (about $1.66 billion) in damages over EY’s role in auditing Wirecard’s books before the German payments company collapsed in 2020, Reuters reported...

Ex-Wirecard Finance Chief Charged With Fraud
Legal // December 14, 2023

More than three years after its collapse, Wirecard’s former finance chief has been accused of fraud. Burkhard Ley, who spent 11 years as the chief financial officer of the German payments firm and then worked as an outside advisor, was charged Thursday (Dec. 14) with...

Interviews & Exclusives
EU Cracks Down on Phone Number Masking to Protect Consumers

December 21, 2022
Phone number masking cases have caused European authorities to issue advice on how to prevent fraud. While the big European fraud trial of the moment is the Wirecard case, in which former executives of the German payments company are trying to pin the blame on each other for embezzling from the firm’s clients, another case […]

Wirecard Trial Sets Up FTX Parallels and Enron Echoes 

December 06, 2022
Thursday marks a red letter day in annals of fraud — the type that destroys companies and careers. No, not that crypto exchange. You might be forgiven for automatically defaulting...

Wirecard, Enron And Warning Signs Across Two Decades

June 29, 2020
Author George Santayana famously wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” And Mark Twain once wrote: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Might...

WSFS Bank: Plain Vanilla Digital Banking Won’t Cut It Any More

June 01, 2020
The new coronavirus had an immediate and profound effect on the financial services industry, as brick-and-mortar bank branches closed to protect public health. Those closures meant that many consumers in...

Quick Reads
Ex-Wirecard CEO Ordered to Pay $155 Million Over Unpaid Loans

September 05, 2024
Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun’s legal troubles are reportedly worsening. A judge ordered Braun and two other executives from the defunct German payments company to pay $155 million in damages related to loans to a company in Singapore that were never repaid, Reuters reported Thursday (Sept. 5). The ruling upheld claims by insolvency administrator Michael […]

German Prosecutors Charge 2 Former Wirecard Executives With Embezzlement

August 06, 2024
Four years after the collapse of online payments company Wirecard, German prosecutors have reportedly charged two more of the firm’s former executives. Wirecard’s former finance chief, Alexander von Knoop, and...

German Agency Criticizes EY’s Audits of Wirecard

April 19, 2024
A German regulator has reportedly concluded that EY’s audit work and quality control regarding the now-defunct payments firm Wirecard was marked by “grave” and “repeated” violations of professional duties. The regulator, Apas,...

Wirecard’s Insolvency Manager Files Lawsuit Against EY in Germany

December 29, 2023
Wirecard’s insolvency manager, Michael Jaffé, filed a lawsuit in a court in Stuttgart against accountancy firm EY. The lawsuit claims 1.5 billion euros (about $1.66 billion) in damages over EY’s...