Finally a verdict this year?
Wirecard: Several charges are dropped
In the fraud trial surrounding the billion-euro bankruptcy of the former financial services provider Wirecard, there could actually be a verdict this year. In order to support this plan, the public prosecutor's office now wants to drop several charges.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen The restriction to particularly serious charges proposed by the court is justifiable, said public prosecutor Matthias Bühring on Wednesday at the Munich Regional Court. He agreed with Judge Markus Födisch's criminal chamber that the remaining charges against the three defendants could already suffice for heavy sentences. According to those involved in the trial, this makes a long prison sentence for the ex-Wirecard boss, the Austrian Markus Braun, more likely. Braun has been in custody for four and a half years.
The key points for the verdict, to which the hearing of evidence will now be limited, still include a whole range of charges. In addition to gang fraud, these include falsifying the consolidated financial statements for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018, providing false information to the capital market and breach of trust. In the original indictment, the accusations against former CEO Braun alone comprised 43 different points.
Defense complains of "prior conviction" of former CEO
The court had already indicated that Braun could face ten to 15 years based on the evidence available to date. Braun's defense lawyer Theres Kraußlach protested accordingly on Wednesday. She spoke of a "prior conviction" of her client in a "disastrous trial" in which the court and the public prosecutor's office were not interested in clarification. Braun must be acquitted.
The DAX-listed company collapsed in June 2020 when it was discovered that 1.9 billion euros were missing from trust accounts in Asia. According to the public prosecutor, Braun and the two co-defendants are alleged to have fabricated transactions worth billions. The charges include balance sheet falsification, fraud, market manipulation and breach of trust.
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