Uppgifter: Efterlyst Wirecard-chef gömmer sig i Ryssland

Wirecard AG is an insolvent German payment processor and financial services provider, whose former CEO, COO, two board members, and other executives have been arrested or otherwise implicated in criminal proceedings. In June 2020 the company announced that €1.9 billion in cash was missing. It owed €3.2 billion in debt. The company is being dismantled after it sold the assets of its main business unit to Santander Bank for €100 million in November 2020. Other assets, including its North American, UK and Brazilian units had been previously sold at undisclosed prices. The company offered electronic payment transaction services and risk management, and issued and processed physical and virtual cards. As of 2017, the company was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and was a part of the DAX stock index from September 2018 to August 2020. The company is at the center of an international financial scandal. Allegations of accounting malpractices had trailed the company since the early days of its incorporation, reaching a peak in 2019 after the Financial Times published a series of investigations along with whistleblower complaints and internal documents. On 25 June 2020, Wirecard filed for insolvency after revelations that €1.9 billion was "missing". Long-time CEO Markus Braun subsequently resigned and was later arrested, and former COO Jan Marsalek, after being fired from his position and board seat, disappeared and remains a fugitive wanted by the German police. On 25 August 2020, the court-appointed insolvency administrator issued a statement that "[u]nder the preliminary insolvency administration, it has since been possible to stabilize the ongoing business and create a basis for its continuation." The statement mentioned how "far-reaching cuts are therefore necessary in order to make any kind of continuation possible" and announced the impending layoff of around 730 employees, in addition to all members of the management board.