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The style of clothing has remained, but his role has changed: As Wirecard boss, Markus Braun was considered a visionary - but he now has to answer in court for the billions in fraud at the former Dax group
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
The former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun, who is on trial as a suspected billion-euro fraudster, rejects all allegations of the indictment.
"I had no knowledge of counterfeiting or embezzlement," said Braun on Monday in the Munich Wirecard trial.
“I didn't form a gang with anyone either,” emphasized the 53-year-old on the 13th day of the trial.
It was his first statement on the charges since the trial began in December.
Braun also contradicts the key witness of the public prosecutor's office, who has seriously accused his former CEO in the course of the process so far.
The collapse of the former Dax group in June 2020 was “a real shock experience” for him.
The day is still one of “the deepest regrets”.
At that time, after massive public pressure, the Wirecard board had to admit that a sum of 1.9 billion euros could not be found.
Bankruptcy followed and Braun was held in custody.
The manager has been in prison for over two and a half years.
Braun apparently lost large parts of his fortune in the course of the bankruptcy.
He had invested most of it in Wirecard shares.
The 1.9 billion euros were allegedly booked in trust accounts in the Philippines and are still missing today.
Braun by no means denies that there were criminals in the company, but according to his own words he had no idea of the manipulations.
He assumed that both the controversial third-party business and the proceeds from it "fully existed".
»I had no knowledge that these funds were embezzled.«
Violent arguments between former partners
In the trial, defendant stands against defendant, because Oliver Bellenhaus, the manager who worked for Wirecard in Dubai until 2020, is the key witness for the public prosecutor's office.
He has heavily accused Braun in the course of the trial so far.
According to Bellenhaus, Braun was a dominating boss who was fully involved in the billion dollar fraud and knew everything.
In the first part of his statement, Braun does not go into who the perpetrators were, who could have led the Wirecard gang.
Braun's defense attorneys have already attacked key witness Bellenhaus as a "professional liar."
Sales manager Jan Marsalek, who has been in hiding since 2020, played a key role at Wirecard, as much is clear from Braun’s presentation right from the start.
"There were a lot of talented young people in the whole group, but Marsalek really stood out," says Braun.
"Marsalek felt like a stroke of luck at the time." In the coming days and weeks, Braun will have to prepare for urgent questions from the court.
beb/dpa
