LIVE
TRACECHAIN™FORENSICS
FRAUD INTELLIGENCE · CASE FILES · GLOBAL SCOREBOARD
REPORT FRAUD Find your country and who to contact ▸🔍 Search cases, companies, countries, agencies
INTEL
PIG BUTCHERING: now the #1 loss category in the US by estimated volume / HUSHPUPPI: the Instagram that became the evidence -- Case 001 open / BEC: one spoofed email, one wire, seven figures -- see the methodology / ROSS ULBRICHT: full pardon January 21 2025 after 11+ years -- Case 013 open / ALL FIGURES LABELED: estimate vs conviction vs market collapse -- see Methodology / UNODC 2023: $5.4B estimated annually from SE Asia pig-butchering compounds [UNVERIFIED] / PIG BUTCHERING: now the #1 loss category in the US by estimated volume / HUSHPUPPI: the Instagram that became the evidence -- Case 001 open / BEC: one spoofed email, one wire, seven figures -- see the methodology / ROSS ULBRICHT: full pardon January 21 2025 after 11+ years -- Case 013 open / ALL FIGURES LABELED: estimate vs conviction vs market collapse -- see Methodology / UNODC 2023: $5.4B estimated annually from SE Asia pig-butchering compounds [UNVERIFIED]
◂ ALL COMPANIES◂ ALL CASES
COMPANY · PAYMENTS GROUP

Wirecard AG

🇩🇪 Aschheim (Munich), Germany · FOUNDED 1999
THE FIGURE
€1.9B
Cash Wirecard had reported in Asian trustee accounts that it admitted on 18 June 2020 probably did not exist (~$2.1B); nothing adjudicated.
WHAT IT SAID IT WAS

Germany's fintech champion: a payments processor that joined the DAX in September 2018 and was valued at over €24B.

WHAT IT REALLY WAS

A company that, prosecutors say, invented revenue from Asian third-party partners and reported €1.9B of cash in trustee accounts that probably never existed (Braun's trial is running; no verdict).

THE STORY

Wirecard was founded in 1999 and, under Markus Braun from 2002, grew from processing payments for porn and gambling sites into Germany's most celebrated fintech, replacing Commerzbank in the DAX in 2018. The Financial Times reported for years that its Asian revenue was inflated; when auditors could not confirm €1.9 billion held by trustees in the Philippines, the company admitted on 18 June 2020 that the money probably did not exist. Braun was arrested on 22 June, Wirecard filed for insolvency on 25 June and COO Jan Marsalek fled. The estate was sold in pieces; Braun's trial, which began in December 2022, had no verdict by September 2026.

WHO RAN IT
Markus Braun ▸
CEO 2002–2020 · open the case file
Jan Marsalek
COO — fled June 2020; wanted by Germany and Interpol; reported to be in Russia
Oliver Bellenhaus
head of Dubai subsidiary CardSystems Middle East — chief prosecution witness; on trial with Braun
WHO WAS HURT
Wirecard shareholders and bondholderscreditors including banks owed ~€1.75B
HOW IT ENDED
Founded
1999
Based
Aschheim (Munich), Germany
Ended
2020-06-25
How
insolvency — filed 25 June 2020, the first DAX company to go bust; proceedings opened 25 August 2020 under administrator Michael Jaffé

Insolvency administrator sold the core technology to Santander (November 2020) and Asian subsidiaries; creditors' claims exceed €12B against modest recoveries. Investors are suing auditor EY; a Bundestag inquiry criticised regulator BaFin. Braun has been in custody since 22 June 2020; his Munich trial opened 8 December 2022 and was still running in September 2026. COO Jan Marsalek is a fugitive.

SOURCES
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirecard_scandaljaffe-rae.de/en/press/detail/opening-of-insolvency-proceedings-concern
Facts as published in court records, regulator releases and the sources above. Anyone charged and not convicted is alleged only.
🏠 HOME📁 CASES🚨 WANTED🎮 PLAY🌍 WORLD