At the beginning of July, the President of Bafin was questioned by the Bundestag Finance Committee on the role of financial supervision in the Wirecard scandal. He doesn't seem to be telling the truth about working with the authorities in Singapore.
In the Wirecard balance sheet scandal, the financial supervisory authority Bafin has admitted, according to a report by "Spiegel", that it incorrectly informed the members of the Bundestag. Contrary to the information provided by head of government Felix Hufeld, the banking supervisory authority and the police in Singapore have been cooperating with the Bafin since early 2019, the "Spiegel" quotes a Bafin spokeswoman. They would have provided the Bafin with information.
Hufeld, on the other hand, had said on July 1 in the Finance Committee, according to the minutes, that his authority is waiting "for a response" from the Singapore police. According to the "Spiegel" report, the Bafin spokeswoman called the Hufeld statements "not applicable". She emphasized the "generally trusting cooperation" with Singapore. The "Spiegel" report appeared on the eve of a special meeting of the Bundestag's finance committee. Finance minister Olaf Scholz and economics minister Peter Altmaier will be on Wednesday to answer questions from the MPs about possible omissions by the financial supervision and the auditors. Scholz oversees the Bafin.
The Bafin was initially unable to comment on the "Spiegel" report. Hufeld had stated in the finance committee that his authority had of course contacted foreign partner authorities. The supervisory authority in Singapore was contacted immediately after the availability of concrete information and asked for administrative assistance. The latter replied that it was not responsible, but the police. The Bafin then wrote to the police and is still waiting for an answer, according to the minutes.
In early 2019, there were first media reports on alleged accounting tricks at Wirecard in Singapore. The Dax company's Asian business was managed from there. The payment processor had to file for bankruptcy in June because alleged balances of EUR 1.9 billion proved to be forged. The public prosecutor's office is investigating former management for gang fraud.
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