Wirecard’s Executive Reportedly Owned Significant Bitcoin Holdings

Jan Marsalek, the former Chief Operating Officer of Wirecard, the now-disgraced payments firm, had the plot thicken around him yet again. According to a report made by a leading Germany-based news outlet, Handelsblatt, Marsalek reportedly transferred considerable amounts of Bitcoin after he fled Germany.

Billions In USD Just Going “Poof”

Marselek served as a key figure within the breakdown of Wirecard, based in Germany. The payments company was subject to much discussion after it filed for insolvency alongside massive allegations of improper accounting. The short of the story is that Wirecard “lost” billions of USD in money, with an audit showing that the money disappeared. Later on, the company even stated that this money might not have existed in the first place.

As a direct result of this, there was a small hick-up in the crypto industry at large. Wirecard was used by many “crypto card” firms out there in order to facilitate crypto-to-fiat payments. While the issue at large was quickly resolved for most payment providers, many in the crypto industry were left without any real means of quick forms of funding. This truly was a scandal of significant magnitude across the financial sector.

Massive Consequences Felt

While the former CEO of Wirecard, Markus Braun, had been arrested after his resignation, Marsalek managed to get out of the country before authorities could get to him. With this latest transfer of Bitcoin, it’s suggested that Marselek is hiding out in Russia, having been missing for weeks officially. It’s said that Marsalek managed to bring sizable amounts of money to Russia by way of Bitcoin, moving it from Dubai. Dubai was one of the key points for Wirecard, where it did some shady operations.

The end-product for the company at large is a 90% drop in stock price, with EY, the auditing firm, going against Wirecard and stating that the entire fraud was an elaborate, sophisticated beast. EY claims that it was a fraud done by multiple parties across the globe.

Going To Russia

It had already been noted in a July report by the Wall Street Journal that Marsalek had a keen fascination with cryptocurrencies as a whole. It was said that he often engaged in late-night discussions regarding cryptocurrencies, particularly how it could move money without a trace.

It seems that Marsalek had fled to Russia, with the information hinting at Belarus in particular. It’s unclear if he will be extradited at this point, as many things are uncertain in these times. What is clear, however, is this is one of the largest financial scandals to have hit the world recently.