Philippine Wirecard Inquiry Targets Two Bank Employees
The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council said
investigators are focusing on two rogue bank employees in the Wirecard AG
scandal.
The government watchdog discovered the workers from Banco de
Oro and Bank of the Philippine Islands forged documents the German payments
company used to mislead its auditor about the $2.1 billion in missing funds,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
Last month, the collapse of Wirecard commenced when Ernst
& Young became suspicious of letters confirming the existence of the
accounts and the amounts held in two Philippine banks. The banks later
confirmed the letters were fakes.
Following the revelation, Wirecard Founder and CEO Markus
Braun resigned.
The Journal reported the two bank employees, who the Council
said acted “in exchange for financial gain,” have been fired.
Mel Georgie Racela, executive director of the regulatory
panel, said the council’s findings have been shared with law enforcement
agencies who will consider criminal charges.
In addition to the two fired workers, Racela said more than
four dozen others and entities are under investigation.
Banco de Oro and Bank of the Philippine Islands didn’t
respond to requests for comment, according to the report.
Chuchi Fonacier, deputy governor of the Financial
Supervision Sector at the Philippines’ central bank, defended the island
nation’s financial sector.
“This will not tarnish the reputation of the Philippines
because our strong oversight protocols proactively identified and addressed the
issues,” Fonacier told the WSJ. “This case is evidence of bad actors, not
evidence of any fault on the part of the Philippines banking system.”
Attorney Mark Tolentino, who was identified on the forged
bank documents as Wirecard’s trustee, is among the people connected to the
company of interest to Philippine authorities. Racela said he is seen as a
go-between.
Tolentino’s lawyer has denied that foreign currency accounts
opened in the name of his law firm were linked to Wirecard, alleging he was the
victim of identity theft.
“If German authorities share information about some sort of
criminal activity we will provide them with the necessary information,” Racela
told the paper. “We’re open to all options.”
The Philippines is the latest country to investigate
Wirecard. Authorities in Germany, the United Kingdom and Singapore opened
investigations a month ago.
This week, Wirecard hired a forensic team to investigate the
accounting scandal.
Once worth $28 billion before it collapsed, Wirecard has
contracted with Alix Partners, the New York-based forensic accounting firm, to
explore the two missing deposits in Philippines banks.
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