Political Network Makes It Possible

Berlin network of politicians, raters and auditors.

“Wirecard illusion factory only conceivable through political network”, is a quote from the Cicero, the German magazine for political culture. The members of the committee of inquiry have an unequivocal answer to this. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) sees Finance Minister Olaf Scholz at the center of the billion dollar scandal.

Fabio De Masi, chairman of the left in the committee, accuses the supervisory authorities of not being fit for the digital age. “This billion-dollar lie, this Wirecard illusion factory was only conceivable because they organized a political network.” BaFin not only let its supervision of Wirecard slip, but even wanted to actively protect the company. Lisa Paus, chairwoman of the Greens, also made the EY auditors jointly responsible, for years they had lacked “the critical attitude”.

The serious extent of the Wirecard scandal could be limited with damage worth billions, said FDP chairman in the investigative committee, Florian Toncar, in Berlin, quoted by Cicero,. The responsible authorities intervened too late, neither the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) nor the anti-money laundering unit FIU, both of which are subject to the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance, attempted to clarify the matter in good time, explained Toncar.

According to the Munich public prosecutor’s office, “commercial gang fraud” can be assumed at Wirecard, which should go back to 2015. The auditing company Ernst & Young had confirmed Wirecard’s annual financial statements for years.