Former Wirecard boss Markus Braun, who is on trial for billions in fraud, wanted to grant high-risk loans to business partners without security, according to the former corporate banker. “Laws and regulations were not that important, especially for the biggest boss,” said the former head of the Wirecard Bank about Braun during his testimony before the Munich regional court. “He had no understanding of loan rejections; for him it was simply a no-go.”
The now 67-year-old manager ran the in-house bank until he left at the end of 2019. Braun therefore did not want to accept objective reasons for rejecting loans that were deemed too risky by the bank. “It was always incomprehensible to him.” In criminal law, this concerns the accusation of breach of trust: The public prosecutor’s office not only accuses Braun of fraud, but also of having caused financial damage to the company through careless lending. Braun has denied all allegations since the trial began.
The presiding judge, Markus Födisch, questioned the banker in detail about so-called strategic loans that the company’s board wanted to grant to business partners in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. “They were prepared to accept high risks without taking appropriate preventive measures,” the witness replied on the 117th day of the trial.
Prosecution: Faking a thriving company
According to the indictment, the group granted large loans in connection with fictitious sham transactions worth billions, with which Braun and accomplices are said to have faked a flourishing company.
This is how the banker described Braun’s reaction after the Wirecard bank rejected a loan of 15 million euros to the Ocap company in Singapore: “He goes to his wardrobe, takes out his blue jacket, puts it on, stands in front of me up and says: I am the owner, only the owner can refuse.”
Later, a Wirecard loan of 100 million euros is said to have flowed to Ocap. Braun was the largest Wirecard shareholder with seven percent of the shares, but not the owner.
The process has been going on for almost a year and a half. Braun has been in custody since the summer of 2020, now the only one of the three former Wirecard executives accused. The key witness Oliver Bellenhaus has seriously accused Braun, the former chief accountant as the third defendant has remained silent so far, but is also thinking about making a statement.