1 00:00:07,825 --> 00:00:12,745 In Autumn 2019, I got a call from a source. 2 00:00:14,145 --> 00:00:17,065 He asks me, "Have you ever looked into Wirecard?" 3 00:00:18,945 --> 00:00:20,625 "The payment processor? No." 4 00:00:22,705 --> 00:00:24,545 "It's a very strange company." 5 00:00:24,625 --> 00:00:26,825 "Companies are being set up." 6 00:00:26,905 --> 00:00:29,625 "Money comes in, money goes out." 7 00:00:30,905 --> 00:00:32,745 That is totally spooky. 8 00:00:34,225 --> 00:00:38,545 He'd been called by foreign friends 9 00:00:38,625 --> 00:00:42,025 who used to work in intelligence agencies, 10 00:00:42,105 --> 00:00:43,545 and they warned him, 11 00:00:44,145 --> 00:00:46,185 "Are you interested in Wirecard?" 12 00:00:46,265 --> 00:00:47,825 "Keep your hands off it." 13 00:01:01,065 --> 00:01:03,585 Mr. Braun, reports about your business 14 00:01:03,665 --> 00:01:06,225 read like a financial thriller. 15 00:01:09,545 --> 00:01:11,145 Bogus sales, 16 00:01:11,225 --> 00:01:13,065 balance sheet manipulations, many allegations. 17 00:01:38,465 --> 00:01:41,945 The former COO, Jan Marsalek, is on the run. 18 00:01:42,785 --> 00:01:45,465 The biggest fraud scandal in German history. 19 00:01:47,225 --> 00:01:50,425 There's an international manhunt for Jan Marsalek. 20 00:01:55,465 --> 00:01:58,745 It's unbelievable how something like this can survive for so long. 21 00:01:59,745 --> 00:02:02,385 It was clear to me this was going to be a huge story. 22 00:02:16,225 --> 00:02:19,145 Scammers take advantage of people's desires. 23 00:02:21,545 --> 00:02:25,545 In Germany, the desire was, "We want to be at the front of the pack." 24 00:02:27,465 --> 00:02:29,585 Germany's industry is extremely successful 25 00:02:29,665 --> 00:02:31,345 but very old, very traditional. 26 00:02:31,425 --> 00:02:37,105 These famous German brands like Siemens, Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, 27 00:02:37,185 --> 00:02:39,745 these are all very old companies. 28 00:02:41,385 --> 00:02:43,225 That's why German politicians 29 00:02:43,305 --> 00:02:45,585 and German business people are often asked, 30 00:02:45,665 --> 00:02:47,625 "Where are actually your new companies?" 31 00:02:49,825 --> 00:02:54,185 We want a major, global, digital champion of our own 32 00:02:54,265 --> 00:02:55,745 like in Silicon Valley. 33 00:02:56,825 --> 00:02:59,745 The German Google, the German Facebook. 34 00:03:00,825 --> 00:03:05,305 And Wirecard played on that desire beautifully. 35 00:03:33,865 --> 00:03:36,105 Wirecard was like the German PayPal. 36 00:03:39,865 --> 00:03:41,665 Wirecard the processor 37 00:03:41,745 --> 00:03:43,745 for online trade, online shops. 38 00:03:44,825 --> 00:03:47,625 They make sure when I buy something, 39 00:03:47,705 --> 00:03:51,825 the money gets from my credit card to the online retailer. 40 00:04:00,065 --> 00:04:03,745 There's a company founder dressed 41 00:04:03,825 --> 00:04:07,825 in a black turtleneck with a neat turn of phrase… 42 00:04:16,945 --> 00:04:19,545 …who presents himself as a visionary. 43 00:04:20,585 --> 00:04:22,545 The "Steve Jobs of the Alps." 44 00:04:58,865 --> 00:05:01,785 Wirecard is one of the fastest-growing 45 00:05:01,865 --> 00:05:03,545 financial commerce platforms. 46 00:05:13,105 --> 00:05:17,185 Wirecard jumped on the digital train in the '90s 47 00:05:17,265 --> 00:05:19,145 that continues to pick up speed, 48 00:05:19,225 --> 00:05:23,105 and now Wirecard has even overtaken Deutsche Bank 49 00:05:23,185 --> 00:05:26,745 with their worth placed at over €20 billion. 50 00:05:26,825 --> 00:05:30,305 A symbol for the new era of the finance sector. 51 00:05:31,545 --> 00:05:33,905 This was a company on the rise. 52 00:05:34,625 --> 00:05:40,305 It grew unlike any other company we'd seen in Germany. 53 00:05:41,225 --> 00:05:47,385 And that rise, that immense growth, led many people to believe in it. 54 00:05:49,185 --> 00:05:53,065 New, successful, global, profitable 55 00:05:53,625 --> 00:05:57,065 and German politicians were proud to be able to say, 56 00:05:57,145 --> 00:05:59,105 "Hey. We have a FinTech company!" 57 00:05:59,945 --> 00:06:02,785 When the chancellor went to China, 58 00:06:02,865 --> 00:06:07,505 she actually campaigned for Wirecard in 2019 with Xi Jinping. 59 00:06:08,865 --> 00:06:12,625 Everyone in Germany believed in this company. 60 00:06:13,985 --> 00:06:17,105 No one would have believed that this was the work of gangsters. 61 00:07:55,585 --> 00:08:00,865 Outside of Europe, we see a growth of 25% 62 00:08:00,945 --> 00:08:06,265 strongly driven by new regions, by developing regions of Asia. 63 00:10:27,305 --> 00:10:28,905 My name is Tobias Bosler, 64 00:10:28,985 --> 00:10:32,385 and I have been, for many years, a short seller. 65 00:10:33,825 --> 00:10:37,825 Most people invest thinking a share price will rise. 66 00:10:39,105 --> 00:10:45,345 A short seller differs from an investor by making money when a share price falls 67 00:10:46,025 --> 00:10:48,745 and loses money when it increases. 68 00:11:55,025 --> 00:11:58,105 I investigated Wirecard for two years. 69 00:11:59,505 --> 00:12:02,305 I understood its business model perfectly. 70 00:12:03,065 --> 00:12:08,625 It handled payments for online businesses in pornography and online gambling, 71 00:12:09,785 --> 00:12:11,185 but it wasn't illegal. 72 00:12:33,785 --> 00:12:35,345 What would you call them? 73 00:12:43,745 --> 00:12:46,385 - Are you joking? -I'm not joking. 74 00:12:48,025 --> 00:12:53,585 The poker market in the US was 50% of the global poker market. 75 00:12:55,145 --> 00:12:59,105 But that all changed in 2006 76 00:12:59,185 --> 00:13:03,745 when a new law in America made it illegal 77 00:13:03,825 --> 00:13:08,425 to handle payments for US citizens playing poker. 78 00:13:08,505 --> 00:13:13,505 So Wirecard lost a major source of income. 79 00:13:14,545 --> 00:13:18,905 But, in spite of this law, the profits of Wirecard kept rising. 80 00:13:21,465 --> 00:13:23,385 What company is able to do that? 81 00:13:24,265 --> 00:13:26,225 This can't be right. 82 00:19:56,905 --> 00:20:00,745 In Germany, short sellers have a bad reputation. 83 00:20:03,545 --> 00:20:06,865 The perception is because they are betting on the share price dropping, 84 00:20:06,945 --> 00:20:10,065 they are actively seeking to destroy companies. 85 00:20:10,145 --> 00:20:13,745 Jobs are lost and that can't be good. 86 00:20:15,425 --> 00:20:18,585 The Zatarra Report wasn't seen as credible. 87 00:20:18,665 --> 00:20:21,905 The criticism was always, "What kind of report is this?" 88 00:20:21,985 --> 00:20:24,785 "There isn't enough evidence to back up its claims." 89 00:20:24,865 --> 00:20:26,665 "It's just mud-slinging 90 00:20:27,865 --> 00:20:31,385 because German companies do not make mistakes." 91 00:20:33,225 --> 00:20:38,065 It was seen very strongly as an attack on Germany itself, on German companies. 92 00:22:36,105 --> 00:22:40,305 A few weeks after I opened the short position, 93 00:22:40,385 --> 00:22:44,625 I got a call from the Wirecard lawyer. 94 00:22:46,345 --> 00:22:49,145 He says, "You are short-selling Wirecard." 95 00:22:49,225 --> 00:22:51,905 I thought, "How did you figure that out?" 96 00:22:53,185 --> 00:22:55,665 He read me all the transactions. 97 00:22:55,745 --> 00:22:58,945 Date, time, amount, rate. 98 00:23:01,865 --> 00:23:05,105 He knew everything. Then he says, "We need to talk." 99 00:23:06,385 --> 00:23:09,985 He arrived with two thugs. 100 00:23:11,545 --> 00:23:16,665 They looked exactly as you imagine thugs to be. 101 00:23:16,745 --> 00:23:18,425 Straightaway they pushed me 102 00:23:19,665 --> 00:23:24,545 and punched the wall with full force. 103 00:23:26,545 --> 00:23:29,185 I admit I was really scared. 104 00:23:32,505 --> 00:23:37,545 What company sends a bunch of thugs to an investor's office? 105 00:23:40,545 --> 00:23:44,145 After that, I stopped looking into Wirecard. 106 00:23:44,225 --> 00:23:45,145 I let it be. 107 00:23:47,305 --> 00:23:49,905 And no one else looked closely into Wirecard, 108 00:23:50,745 --> 00:23:53,105 except Dan McCrum. 109 00:24:22,905 --> 00:24:27,225 My dear shareholders… 110 00:25:15,385 --> 00:25:18,025 Well, if I find a weak spot, but I'm… 111 00:25:25,585 --> 00:25:27,665 It's not working. It's not cold enough. 112 00:25:53,305 --> 00:25:55,425 Marsalek is a completely different type. 113 00:25:55,505 --> 00:25:58,545 Extremely charming, 114 00:25:58,625 --> 00:26:02,545 very approachable, a great communicator. 115 00:26:03,145 --> 00:26:05,985 Everything Braun didn't have, Marsalek had, 116 00:26:06,065 --> 00:26:08,425 which is why they were a great team. 117 00:26:10,905 --> 00:26:15,585 I think that very few people knew who Jan Marsalek really was. 118 00:26:17,825 --> 00:26:20,625 He is certainly at the center of this scandal. 119 00:26:20,705 --> 00:26:24,425 He is the one who made sure that the turnover 120 00:26:24,505 --> 00:26:28,105 was always the way his boss, Braun, wanted. 121 00:26:37,825 --> 00:26:41,665 The German Stock Exchange is richer because of one company. 122 00:26:41,745 --> 00:26:45,185 The payment-processing company, Wirecard, from Aschheim near Munich 123 00:26:45,265 --> 00:26:47,905 has made the leap into the stock market premier league. 124 00:26:49,505 --> 00:26:53,385 Wirecard's share price last year was €77.40. 125 00:26:53,465 --> 00:26:57,145 Today it stands at €189.40. 126 00:26:57,225 --> 00:27:00,505 Our figures tell a story of strong growth. 127 00:27:00,585 --> 00:27:04,545 How our business is valued is a question for the investors. 128 00:27:05,345 --> 00:27:08,785 Wirecard has shaken up the German stock exchange this week 129 00:27:08,865 --> 00:27:12,185 and kicked the Commerzbank out of the elite DAX index. 130 00:27:43,305 --> 00:27:46,065 A lot of investors believe in German values, 131 00:27:46,145 --> 00:27:48,865 and now it has the DAX seal of approval. 132 00:27:48,945 --> 00:27:51,305 So a lot of people thought a DAX company 133 00:27:51,385 --> 00:27:56,785 would be tightly regulated by the German authorities. 134 00:27:57,705 --> 00:28:00,505 Who wouldn't be thrilled to have money invested in Wirecard? 135 00:28:50,265 --> 00:28:52,985 -What's with the glasses? - Best without glasses. 136 00:44:51,465 --> 00:44:57,225 I only heard about the Financial Times' coverage secondhand. 137 00:44:57,305 --> 00:44:58,385 NEW ATTACK ON WIRECARD 138 00:44:58,465 --> 00:45:00,105 It was the typical bias. 139 00:45:00,185 --> 00:45:04,105 They said, "It is a foreign conspiracy against a German company." 140 00:45:04,185 --> 00:45:07,265 "A German company is the victim and must be protected." 141 00:45:09,105 --> 00:45:13,225 Wirecard had hired a famous lawyer in Bavaria. 142 00:45:15,385 --> 00:45:20,545 The lawyer said to the public prosecutor, Baumler-Hosl, 143 00:45:20,625 --> 00:45:24,265 that Wirecard is under attack by short sellers 144 00:45:24,345 --> 00:45:26,425 and its very existence is in jeopardy. 145 00:45:27,225 --> 00:45:31,145 Hildegard Baumler-Hosl contacted the German financial regulator. 146 00:45:31,225 --> 00:45:35,625 The regulator BaFin then said, "We need to protect Wirecard." 147 00:45:35,705 --> 00:45:39,145 And banned short-selling of Wirecard shares. 148 00:45:39,225 --> 00:45:44,145 And even filed criminal charges against Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma. 149 00:51:08,505 --> 00:51:11,945 This financial thriller continues with the latest punch-up 150 00:51:12,025 --> 00:51:14,145 between Wirecard and the Financial Times. 151 00:51:22,665 --> 00:51:25,905 In February, there were new articles and allegations 152 00:51:25,985 --> 00:51:27,745 and the share price fell again. 153 00:51:28,905 --> 00:51:31,905 At the end of March, new accusations were published 154 00:51:31,985 --> 00:51:34,345 and the share price collapsed once again. 155 00:51:34,425 --> 00:51:37,785 A BILLIONAIRE ON THE DEFENSIVE 156 00:52:02,105 --> 00:52:04,665 - Sound running. -Okay. Let's start. 157 00:52:05,305 --> 00:52:10,905 How do you personally go about scandals, confusion, chaos? 158 00:52:10,985 --> 00:52:12,945 Have you ever thought about resigning? 159 00:52:13,025 --> 00:52:15,025 I've never thought about resignation. 160 00:52:15,105 --> 00:52:17,865 Can you exclude the possibility of more dirty laundry airing 161 00:52:17,945 --> 00:52:19,945 that will put the share price under pressure? 162 00:52:20,025 --> 00:52:23,145 We firmly reject these serious allegations. 163 00:52:23,225 --> 00:52:28,785 We think these allegations are mainly market speculations. 164 00:52:42,665 --> 00:52:45,465 At the Frankfurt stock exchange, 165 00:52:45,545 --> 00:52:49,705 Wirecard has announced its annual results, increasing its profits by 35%, 166 00:52:49,785 --> 00:52:52,425 an increase of €350 million, 167 00:52:52,505 --> 00:52:55,065 and says it will continue to grow this year. 168 00:55:16,665 --> 00:55:18,785 Drink as much as you can take, here! 169 00:57:12,785 --> 00:57:14,905 -Hey. I'm Nick Gold. - Hello, Nick. How are you? 170 00:57:14,985 --> 00:57:18,065 What sort of size business were you thinking of doing? 171 00:57:18,145 --> 00:57:20,625 At the moment, they are looking at investing €50 million. 172 00:57:20,705 --> 00:57:21,545 Okay. 173 00:57:22,305 --> 00:57:25,225 There was a short seller, Nick Gold, 174 00:57:25,305 --> 00:57:30,945 who met with an investor who secretly recorded him. 175 00:57:31,465 --> 00:57:33,985 This is as good as it gets in terms of-- 176 00:57:34,065 --> 00:57:36,105 -We know the article's coming. -Okay. 177 00:57:36,185 --> 00:57:37,745 And I bet it's gonna be today. 178 00:57:38,225 --> 00:57:41,345 We know now that this investor was actually a private detective 179 00:57:41,425 --> 00:57:46,825 who was hired by someone associated with Wirecard. 180 00:59:44,665 --> 00:59:47,025 I'm Jorg Schmitt from the Süddeutsche Zeitung. 181 00:59:47,945 --> 00:59:50,945 I'm the chief editor of the investigations team. 182 00:59:51,465 --> 00:59:56,345 I was at my desk when I suddenly got a call from an unknown number. 183 00:59:57,265 --> 00:59:59,825 On the other end was a young woman. 184 00:59:59,905 --> 01:00:02,025 She said, "Are you interested in Wirecard?" 185 01:00:03,265 --> 01:00:05,705 "Do you know Prinzregentenstrasse 61?" 186 01:00:05,785 --> 01:00:09,065 "It's the secret office of Jan Marsalek." 187 01:00:09,905 --> 01:00:13,065 Even colleagues closest to Marsalek didn't know 188 01:00:13,145 --> 01:00:16,345 that there was this second office in the Prinzregentenstrasse. 189 01:00:17,105 --> 01:00:21,945 He would meet with a very illustrious circle of people, 190 01:00:22,025 --> 01:00:25,785 do business, and host wild parties. 191 01:00:27,665 --> 01:00:31,585 It's Marsalek's boy gang, I'd say. 192 01:00:31,665 --> 01:00:33,145 We always find Martin W., 193 01:00:33,225 --> 01:00:36,465 who had been in the Austrian secret service. 194 01:00:36,545 --> 01:00:41,425 El-Obeidi, a former Libyan intelligence officer. 195 01:00:41,945 --> 01:00:48,865 Stani, a Russian who was supposedly in Munich visiting his sick mother, 196 01:00:48,945 --> 01:00:55,145 but we think he was probably an FSB man, a Russian secret-service agent. 197 01:00:56,145 --> 01:01:02,825 So suddenly we had three former intelligence agents 198 01:01:02,905 --> 01:01:07,505 who were in and around the Prinzregentenstrasse. 199 01:01:07,585 --> 01:01:11,745 And the thing is the Prinzregentenstrasse is not just anywhere in Munich. 200 01:01:11,825 --> 01:01:15,025 It is directly opposite the Russian consulate. 201 01:01:16,785 --> 01:01:19,505 There is obviously a secret-service connection. 202 01:01:20,625 --> 01:01:22,185 That electrified me. 203 01:01:23,665 --> 01:01:28,705 Why might Marsalek be so interesting to intelligence agencies? 204 01:01:31,265 --> 01:01:33,065 Wirecard is a company 205 01:01:33,145 --> 01:01:35,985 through which there are billions of transactions every year. 206 01:01:36,625 --> 01:01:40,225 And these payments are gold mines for the secret services 207 01:01:40,305 --> 01:01:43,705 because they show who could be compromised 208 01:01:43,785 --> 01:01:47,985 because their creditcard information could show porn usage, 209 01:01:48,065 --> 01:01:50,025 brothel visits, or whatever else. 210 01:01:52,425 --> 01:01:54,185 To have a source like Marsalek 211 01:01:54,265 --> 01:01:56,745 who is always on the move around the world, 212 01:01:56,825 --> 01:01:58,665 that makes a lot of sense. 213 01:02:46,345 --> 01:02:50,145 Vienna is sadly mostly an inviting terrain 214 01:02:50,225 --> 01:02:52,305 for intelligence officers, 215 01:02:52,385 --> 01:02:57,105 for dubious characters, spies, economic spies. 216 01:06:45,465 --> 01:06:48,385 Border security in Libya was a topic that, 217 01:06:48,465 --> 01:06:53,545 for a COO of a company like Wirecard, wasn't normal in the slightest. 218 01:06:54,665 --> 01:06:58,345 As time went on, I asked myself, "What does he want in Libya?" 219 01:06:58,425 --> 01:07:01,665 "And why does he seem to be getting support 220 01:07:01,745 --> 01:07:04,145 from within the Austrian government 221 01:07:04,225 --> 01:07:07,665 for a project that doesn't have humanitarian aims?" 222 01:07:16,505 --> 01:07:19,945 If you ignore negative trends 223 01:07:20,025 --> 01:07:23,265 or if you let immigration go unchecked, 224 01:07:23,345 --> 01:07:25,785 things will go downhill very quickly. 225 01:07:34,905 --> 01:07:37,585 It is logical that if Russia 226 01:07:37,665 --> 01:07:40,065 wants to destabilize Europe, 227 01:07:41,145 --> 01:07:45,945 they would try to create anxiety over supposed waves of refugees 228 01:07:46,025 --> 01:07:49,825 to create a narrative that heats the debate again. 229 01:07:51,025 --> 01:07:53,825 Marsalek has very good contacts in Russia. 230 01:07:55,385 --> 01:07:59,225 That's why it's plausible that Jan Marsalek could have been trying 231 01:07:59,305 --> 01:08:01,505 to set something up for the Russians. 232 01:11:05,985 --> 01:11:08,465 It's criminal to wiretap journalists. 233 01:11:08,545 --> 01:11:11,345 It's criminal to hack their email accounts. 234 01:11:12,025 --> 01:11:18,545 The worst part was that this intimidation was quite successful. 235 01:11:19,385 --> 01:11:23,625 The Financial Times had launched an internal inquiry into Dan McCrum, 236 01:11:23,705 --> 01:11:26,865 and Wirecard made the most of this time, 237 01:11:26,945 --> 01:11:29,465 and its market price kept rising. 238 01:11:29,545 --> 01:11:36,145 They even got the German Chancellor to promote the company in China. 239 01:11:36,225 --> 01:11:39,625 All this happened in those months when the Financial Times 240 01:11:39,705 --> 01:11:42,185 didn't write anything critical of Wirecard. 241 01:14:21,025 --> 01:14:24,305 Dr. Markus Braun, you've decided 242 01:14:24,385 --> 01:14:27,105 to carry out an external audit 243 01:14:27,185 --> 01:14:32,305 due to the allegations that the FT have made. 244 01:14:32,385 --> 01:14:34,865 The question is, "Why only now?" 245 01:14:35,745 --> 01:14:37,305 Well, we reacted very quickly. 246 01:14:37,385 --> 01:14:41,225 The newspaper article was published only over a week ago. 247 01:14:42,665 --> 01:14:46,505 At first, Braun didn't want this inquiry. 248 01:14:46,585 --> 01:14:50,785 We reject these allegations 100%. 249 01:14:51,385 --> 01:14:55,585 People at Wirecard must have known that this is going to be troublesome. 250 01:14:55,665 --> 01:14:58,265 When will the auditors present their report? 251 01:14:58,905 --> 01:15:03,425 I don't want to jump the gun, but we think within a few months. 252 01:15:03,505 --> 01:15:07,785 We believe we will have results very quickly. 253 01:15:32,745 --> 01:15:34,585 My name is Joachim Giehl. 254 01:15:35,385 --> 01:15:37,865 I am Markus Braun's neighbor. 255 01:15:40,465 --> 01:15:42,745 I always had the impression 256 01:15:42,825 --> 01:15:45,425 that this man is under a massive amount of pressure. 257 01:15:48,625 --> 01:15:51,665 He greeted nobody as his neighbor. 258 01:15:51,745 --> 01:15:53,905 He always just got in his car. 259 01:15:53,985 --> 01:15:55,945 No hello, no nothing. 260 01:16:00,865 --> 01:16:06,065 There was one day, around 8:30 p.m., 261 01:16:06,145 --> 01:16:09,105 I parked my car in the garage. 262 01:16:09,705 --> 01:16:15,305 It was dark, and I saw Markus Braun at the entrance to our building. 263 01:16:17,145 --> 01:16:22,025 I saw him in the lamplight, and he looked extremely tense. 264 01:16:24,025 --> 01:16:29,065 He was surrounded by some men whom I didn't recognize. 265 01:16:31,865 --> 01:16:33,345 They seemed out of place. 266 01:16:35,305 --> 01:16:37,705 They didn't look like businesspeople. 267 01:16:37,785 --> 01:16:43,105 They looked like people who work as security, bodyguards, 268 01:16:43,185 --> 01:16:45,385 a group of thugs… 269 01:16:45,465 --> 01:16:47,225 …or people like that. 270 01:16:48,785 --> 01:16:52,345 They didn't look like they were there to protect him. 271 01:16:52,425 --> 01:16:56,665 Rather, I thought they were there… 272 01:16:58,305 --> 01:16:59,465 …to do a job. 273 01:17:59,345 --> 01:18:01,745 It was called "Project Panther," 274 01:18:01,825 --> 01:18:04,465 a plan for a hostile takeover. 275 01:18:05,065 --> 01:18:09,545 A large consulting company put a document together 276 01:18:09,625 --> 01:18:13,025 which showed how it could make sense 277 01:18:13,105 --> 01:18:15,585 to merge an old bank with a new tech company. 278 01:18:17,185 --> 01:18:20,865 The "Wirebank," or whatever it would have been called. 279 01:18:22,425 --> 01:18:24,865 The idea was 280 01:18:24,945 --> 01:18:27,865 if you merged these two companies, 281 01:18:27,945 --> 01:18:32,025 with the Deutsche Bank balance being so much bigger than Wirecard's, 282 01:18:32,105 --> 01:18:36,545 that then maybe the fraud at Wirecard would somehow get swept under the rug. 283 01:20:48,065 --> 01:20:53,065 Auditors can no longer locate €1.9 billion 284 01:20:53,145 --> 01:20:55,785 that are said to be in escrow accounts in Asia. 285 01:20:55,865 --> 01:20:58,025 The two banks in the Philippines 286 01:20:58,105 --> 01:21:00,545 where the €1.9 billion was supposed to be 287 01:21:00,625 --> 01:21:03,025 said today that they had no business relations 288 01:21:03,105 --> 01:21:04,785 with the payments processor. 289 01:21:04,865 --> 01:21:06,345 The documents were faked. 290 01:21:29,505 --> 01:21:34,265 The share price plunged by 70%. 291 01:22:05,465 --> 01:22:07,625 Ladies and gentlemen, 292 01:22:07,705 --> 01:22:10,825 on behalf of the management board of Wirecard, 293 01:22:10,905 --> 01:22:13,025 I would like to give the following explanation. 294 01:22:13,105 --> 01:22:16,065 The press conference that night was like The Muppet Show. 295 01:22:17,505 --> 01:22:19,585 Braun reads from the teleprompter. 296 01:22:21,025 --> 01:22:23,145 The death sentence has already been handed out, 297 01:22:23,225 --> 01:22:27,785 and he's still making it seem as if he's going to announce 298 01:22:27,865 --> 01:22:30,865 an amazing quarterly report next month. 299 01:22:31,465 --> 01:22:36,225 Right now, it cannot be ruled out that Wirecard 300 01:22:36,305 --> 01:22:39,625 has become the damaged party 301 01:22:39,705 --> 01:22:43,145 in a fraud case of considerable proportions. 302 01:23:01,785 --> 01:23:05,905 Where is the COO of the insolvent payment processor, 303 01:23:05,985 --> 01:23:08,865 Wirecard, the Austrian, Jan Marsalek? 304 01:23:26,305 --> 01:23:28,865 An agent always has an escape route. 305 01:23:30,945 --> 01:23:36,065 We knew that Marsalek was in the office until that Friday afternoon. 306 01:23:36,705 --> 01:23:39,025 He supposedly said 307 01:23:39,105 --> 01:23:42,065 he had to go to the Philippines to clear the whole thing up. 308 01:23:44,505 --> 01:23:48,465 He went for dinner with Martin W. that evening. 309 01:23:50,465 --> 01:23:53,105 Martin W., who he knew from the Prinzregentenstrasse 310 01:23:53,185 --> 01:23:56,225 and who used to be in the Austrian secret service 311 01:23:56,305 --> 01:24:00,425 together with an Austrian, right-wing politician 312 01:24:00,505 --> 01:24:02,345 booked Marsalek a flight. 313 01:24:03,825 --> 01:24:07,465 Marsalek paid close to €8,000 in cash… 314 01:24:09,025 --> 01:24:10,865 and then his trail disappeared. 315 01:24:13,945 --> 01:24:15,505 He didn't go to the Philippines. 316 01:24:15,585 --> 01:24:16,585 It doesn't make sense. 317 01:24:16,665 --> 01:24:21,385 He couldn't have entered the country because of quarantine regulations. 318 01:24:22,585 --> 01:24:25,265 There are databases where you can check flight data. 319 01:24:25,945 --> 01:24:31,105 Since 2015, he flew at least 60 times to Russia. 320 01:24:31,625 --> 01:24:34,025 And there was one flight 321 01:24:34,105 --> 01:24:38,905 from a small airport near Vienna to Minsk. 322 01:24:41,145 --> 01:24:42,585 It's not far from Moscow. 323 01:24:43,145 --> 01:24:48,425 The border to Russia is not controlled, and that's where the trail is lost. 324 01:24:49,625 --> 01:24:52,225 After that, it's just rumors. 325 01:24:56,145 --> 01:24:58,065 We don't know for certain if Marsalek 326 01:24:58,145 --> 01:25:01,505 was actually a secret-service informant or not. 327 01:25:03,585 --> 01:25:06,065 Jan Marsalek was very well-connected 328 01:25:06,145 --> 01:25:08,785 in the secret service parallel world, 329 01:25:08,865 --> 01:25:12,225 and that's why I think he won't be that easy to find. 330 01:25:15,865 --> 01:25:18,465 We know that he's online occasionally 331 01:25:18,545 --> 01:25:22,185 via an old Telegram account. 332 01:25:24,905 --> 01:25:26,385 I can check again. 333 01:25:29,185 --> 01:25:33,985 He's been online every few months. 334 01:25:35,585 --> 01:25:40,985 The last time was on May 27, 2021. 335 01:25:48,625 --> 01:25:50,865 The German parliament has started 336 01:25:50,945 --> 01:25:53,065 a political inquiry into Wirecard, 337 01:25:53,145 --> 01:25:56,065 one of the biggest scandals of the German republic. 338 01:25:56,145 --> 01:26:00,865 A financial disaster for those who invested their money in Wirecard. 339 01:26:02,465 --> 01:26:07,545 It was the first DAX-listed company to go bust. 340 01:26:20,385 --> 01:26:23,625 I think that Wirecard's inner circle 341 01:26:23,705 --> 01:26:27,545 who knew what was really going on was very small. 342 01:26:28,705 --> 01:26:29,825 Certainly Marsalek. 343 01:26:30,705 --> 01:26:34,825 The fascinating question is, "What did Braun know about all this?" 344 01:26:43,505 --> 01:26:46,145 He wasn't emotional. He was very tense. 345 01:26:47,425 --> 01:26:50,225 And then he gave a short opening statement. 346 01:26:51,105 --> 01:26:55,225 "All I can say… is we were all deceived." 347 01:26:56,265 --> 01:26:57,465 "I'm a victim." 348 01:26:58,825 --> 01:27:02,105 And then his lawyer said he won't answer any further questions. 349 01:27:02,785 --> 01:27:07,185 He really sat there for three hours and didn't answer. 350 01:27:30,025 --> 01:27:34,265 I think so far, we only know the tip of the iceberg. 351 01:27:34,345 --> 01:27:39,505 Unless Jan Marsalek turns up somewhere and breaks his silence, 352 01:27:39,585 --> 01:27:41,985 only then will we get the full story.