Wirecard Share Slumps 40% as Auditor Refuse to Sign-off its 2019 Accounts
German payment processor and financial services provider Wirecard AG’s shares fell by more than 40%. While the company is scrambling to find $2.1 billion missing from its accounts, the two Philippine banks said the company was not their client. The further said that the alleged documents had been falsified.
Germany’s Wirecard is facing the possibility of repaying 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion) in bank loans, in case they fail to get results signed off by its auditor by Friday. In a statement, they said that they have become the victim of fraud.
On Thursday, over the issue of missing money, the company’s auditor has refused to sign off its 2019 accounts. This has resulted in a decline in shares of the German financial technology firm.
Markus Braun, Chief Executive of Wirecard, said in an online video “It cannot be ruled out that Wirecard AG has become the aggrieved party in a case of fraud of considerable proportions.”
Despite his statement, Braun has yet not identified those that he suspected of fraud. The two Philippine banks, BPI and BDO, have both issued statements denying any kind of relationship with the German company.
BDO said “Wirecard is not a client of the bank. The document claiming the existence of a Wirecard account with BDO is a falsified document and carries forged signatures of bank officers.” BDO added in a statement “The matter has already been reported to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” referring to the Philippines’ central bank.
BPI said in their statement “Wirecard is not a client. Their external auditor presented to us a document that claimed that they are a client. We have determined that the document is spurious. We continue to investigate this matter.”
Wirecard has opened its arms to welcome technology in Germany. This movie made its name in heavy industry; however, its fortunes started unraveling after a whistleblower alleged that it owed its success to a web of sham transactions. The company dismissed the claims.