Munich Prosecutors Arrest Another Manager in Wirecard Probe

Munich Prosecutors Arrest Another Manager in Wirecard Probe

Munich prosecutors on Monday arrested the managing director of a Dubai-based Wirecard AG unit as part of their investigation into the German fintech company’s accounting scandal.

Oliver Bellenhaus was arrested, according to a person familiar with the issue who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. Prosecutors identified the man as the managing director of Cardsystems Middle East FZ-LLC, without naming him in their emailed statement Monday. Bellenhaus headed that unit, which has been dissolved.

Attempts to contact Bellenhaus for comment were unsuccessful.

Bellenhaus is being probed for fraud allegations and helping in other crimes. He voluntarily turned himself in after traveling to Munich from Dubai. Before arresting him, prosecutors interviewed him. A local court ruled in the afternoon that he must remain in jail because of a risk that he would flee or tamper with evidence.

Bellenhaus is the second person to be arrested after former Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun, who is on bail after being taken in two weeks ago. It brings the number of people known to be under investigation to three, and prosecutors are likely targeting additional employees. Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer, is still at large.

The accounting scandal exploded last month after Wirecard disclosed that 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) was missing from its balance sheet. The company filed for insolvency with a German court.

In May, Wirecard announced it has dissolved its subsidiary and transferred its business activities and employees to Wirecard Processing FZ-LLC. The payments company said it started the dissolution process last year.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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