First a law firm from Baden-Württemberg targets former Wirecard board members and the auditors EY, now they also file a lawsuit against Germany's financial supervision. The aim of the model procedure sought is for Bafin to be liable for all purchases of Wirecard shares from a key date.
The law firm Tilp is now suing the financial regulator Bafin for damages in the Wirecard scandal. The official liability lawsuit was filed with the Frankfurt Regional Court, the law firm said. The complaint alleges years of abuse of office by Bafin in the Wirecard case, as the law firm's website says.
"In our opinion, the Bafin has refused to carry out its own investigation against Wirecard AG for years due to market manipulation, grossly disregarding its legal duties and powers," said lawyer Andreas Tilp. Although she was well aware of the public reporting on massive irregularities at Wirecard, the agency had acted unilaterally against journalists and short sellers.
Wirecard is one of the biggest accounting scandals in German history. According to the Munich public prosecutor's office, the Dax group has forged its balance sheets at least since 2015. However, it was only in mid-June that Wirecard's long-term auditor EY found that around 1.9 billion euros, which were allegedly held in trust accounts at Philippine banks, did not exist – as did large parts of the Asian business.
Bafin "did not investigate properly"
Tilp has already sued EY and former board members of the collapsed payment processor for the scandal. Tilp argues that the Bafin must at least pay compensation for business with Wirecard paper from February 18, 2019. "If she had been properly investigated, the balance sheet fraud would have been publicly known on Friday, February 15, 2019," he said. On that day, Bafin commissioned the German accounting office to check the Wirecard balance sheet.
"In our firm conviction, Bafin is liable for damages at least for all purchases of Wirecard shares and the Wirecard bond as well as derivatives on the Wirecard share that took place from February 18, 2019," continued lawyer Tilp. As in the previous lawsuits, Tilp also applied for a model case. A model case is a kind of class action lawsuit, in which one complains in the name of many.
.