Ex-Wirecard boss defends himself: Braun does not want to travel to the U-Committee

The former head of the insolvent financial services provider Wirecard, Markus Braun, is ready to answer the questions of the U Committee to clarify the accounting scandal – but he does not want to appear in person. His lawyers are preparing a lawsuit against the subpoena, which could land in Karlsruhe.

The dispute over the presence of the former Wirecard boss Markus Braun before the investigative committee of the Bundestag is expected to come before the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). While the FDP, the Left and the Greens insist on a personal appearance of the manager arrested on suspicion of fraud in Berlin on Thursday, Braun only wants to testify before the committee via video interrogation from the Augsburg prison. "We will have this judicially checked and will therefore not give any further statement," said Braun's criminal defense attorney Alfred Dierlamm. In such cases, a BGH investigating judge in Karlsruhe is responsible.

As a justification for a video interrogation, Braun's lawyers had named health risks due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to information from those involved in the proceedings, the public prosecutor's office and the penal institution also see a risk of infection. This not only affects Braun and two other imprisoned ex-Wirecard managers, who are supposed to testify before the committee in Berlin, but also security forces and other prisoners in the three Bavarian prisons where the men are in custody.

"Witness of Outstanding Importance"

The chairmen of the FDP, the Left Party and the Greens, who set up the committee, insist on a personal appearance by the managers in Berlin. "The interrogation is more authentic in this way and the picture that the committee can get of the witnesses is comprehensive," said politicians Florian Toncar, Fabio De Masi and Danyal Bayaz in a letter to the other committee members. This is all the more important as "the witness Dr. Braun is of outstanding importance" for clarifying the political and official responsibility in the Wirecard scandal.

Braun shaped the payment service provider from Aschheim near Munich for 18 years. After uncovering a € 1.9 billion balance sheet hole, he resigned in June, and the company slipped into bankruptcy. The public prosecutor's office in Munich accuses Braun and other Wirecard managers of commercial gang fraud, falsification of accounts and market manipulation.

Wirecard is said to have calculated itself for years with systematic air bookings and thus inflicted billions in damage to investors and banks. In his last public appearance, Braun had described the then Dax company as a victim of a large-scale fraud.