Philippines Investigates Reported Death of Former Wirecard Executive
MANILA — The Philippines is seeking to confirm whether a recently registered death was that of former Wirecard executive Christopher Bauer, one of several people being investigated over a multi-billion dollar fraud at the German payments firm.
Philippine Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday
said his office was trying to secure a certificate for the death of “Christopher
Reinhard Bauer,” which he said had been recorded in a civil registry in the
capital Manila last month.
“Bauer is part of an ongoing NBI/AMLC investigation, and
these agencies have an interest to know if he is still alive,” Mr. Guevarra
told Reuters, referring to the National Bureau of Investigation and the
Anti-Money Laundering Council.
“We can’t confirm until we see the death certificate.”
The Philippines became connected to the accounting saga at
Wirecard AG when the German firm initially claimed that a missing $2.1 billion
had been kept in two local banks, which the banks said was not true.
The central bank has said no money from Wirecard entered the
Philippine financial system.
Wirecard admitted that $2.1 billion of its cash probably did
not exist. Auditor EY had said there were clear indications of an elaborate
fraud involving multiple parties around the world.
The Philippines was also linked to Wirecard through its
former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, who was recorded as entering the
country on June 23 then leaving for China a day later, around the time that
news of the scandal broke.
Mr. Guevarra last month said those travel records had been
falsified.
He confirmed on Thursday that Bauer was among the initial
list of people and entities of interest in the Philippine investigation.
Comments
Post a Comment