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Wirecard headquarters
Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
"It is not rocket science, what we did there," says Alexander Geschonneck, after he had been answering questions to the Wirecard investigative committee of the Bundestag for a few hours.
"And it was not done." Even if the 50-year-old has tried to get diplomacy up to this point, it is a slap in the face for the competition.
From the end of 2019, Geschonneck headed a special audit of Wirecard's balance sheets for the auditing company KPMG.
She confirmed a suspicion against the Dax group that had been simmering for a long time: Alleged sales in the billions did not exist, customers and accounts were apparently fictitious.
Even auditors had not prevented all of this: EY (formerly Ernst & Young) blessed Wirecard's balance sheets for more than ten years.
Only after the devastating report from KPMG did the auditors refuse to give their certificate.
Wirecard was finished.
After questioning the imprisoned ex-boss Markus Braun and other former employees a week ago, the MPs turned their attention to the auditors on Thursday.
Their role is so delicate, especially in the case of EY, that four employees who were also summoned initially invoked their obligations to maintain confidentiality.
Wirecard's insolvency administrator and the remaining board members had expressly released her from this.
However, EY doubts that this is sufficient and wants a clarification before the Federal Court of Justice.
"We didn't get the facts"
So it was mainly up to Geschonneck to draw a picture of the adventurous conditions at Wirecard.
These became apparent when KPMG employees tried to convince themselves of the existence of alleged accounts on a visit to the Philippines.
The conversation with Wirecard's local trustee was just as unsatisfactory as visits to two bank branches that ended after a few minutes.
"We didn't get the facts," Geschonneck summarized.
But why didn't EY insist on these facts?
Christian Orth, head of internal quality assurance, did not want to comment specifically on Wirecard either.
In an abstract lecture about his profession, however, he described its limits in detail.
Auditors would »not have to assume that the other party is a fraud per se«, so Orth.
"That would go completely beyond the scope." Rather, one is "always dependent on the cooperation and cooperation of the client."
An astonishingly modest assessment for a company that has a turnover of over 37 billion dollars and claims to strengthen "confidence in the capital markets around the world."
Orth emphasizes that the auditors do not have the same options as prosecutors.
But couldn't EY investigate press reports about Wirecard's suspicious Asian deals?
Or at least the advice of an employee who raised the alarm early on about an India deal?
"Every good examiner reads the newspaper," assured Orth.
And EY has an internal hotline for whistleblowers.
Ultimately, however, the EY man described in detail that he worked in one of “the most heavily regulated professions in Germany” and that the controls were unfortunately not as easy as the public imagined.
"Disastrous Testimony" for EY
That did not convince the MPs.
Green politician Danyal Bayaz spoke of a "disastrous testimony" for EY.
The CSU MP Hans Michelbach even moved Orth close to the former Wirecard boss.
"You don't say anything, Mr. Braun says nothing!" At this point the auditor, who had been appearing self-confidently, withdrew with his lawyer and then asked for more respectful interaction.
In contrast to Braun, he is not being investigated in any way.
After midnight, the questioning continued with Orth's colleague Stefan Heissner, the head of the forensics department.
The 53-year-old used to be a police officer and "fights fraud and corruption," as it is called on the EY side.
But he also downplayed the possibilities as an examiner.
"We only collect facts," says Heissner.
This would have to classify others.
But the pressure on EY is increasing.
Shortly before the hearing, the »Handelsblatt« reported that the Apas auditors had called on the public prosecutor's office - because of indications of criminal offenses by the EY actors involved.
Orth claimed in committee that he was unaware of this report.
Then he surprised the MPs by saying that he had contacted the Apas himself the day before.
The legal department of EY asked for a contact because of a press report, but he does not know the background.
It was not only at this point that it became clear that this hearing is not a promotional event for EY.
It should also cause discussions in the auditor industry.
How small this is ultimately became apparent when Orth was asked about Geschonneck's critical statements.
"Oh, Alex," he smiled.
Because Geschonneck used to be at EY too.
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