MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Further evidence is coming to light in the Wirecard trial that the company's shady dealings could have been uncovered long before its collapse. Special investigators from the auditing firm EY came across questionable matters as early as 2016 - among other things, Wirecard Bank granted millions in loans without collateral.

"We found an ambulance driver in Dubai who received six million dollars unsecured," said an EY employee on the witness stand today. In addition, the now 44-year-old and his colleagues discovered evidence of manipulation in the takeover of the Indian payment service provider Hermes by Wirecard in 2016 and 2017 as part of a special investigation that was never completed.

The witness works at EY as a forensic accountant - experts who become active when irregularities are suspected. EY audited and certified the Wirecard balance sheets every year, and in 2016 a whistleblower wrote to the head of the audit team responsible for Wirecard. The whistleblower provided information that Wirecard's senior management had reported fictitious sales during the Hermes takeover.

Special investigation came to nothing

As a result, the EY forensic experts became active and launched a special investigation called "Project Ring" on behalf of the Wirecard Management Board. "In our view, we found indicators that were suitable to support the allegations," reported the witness.

On the instructions of Wirecard's Chief Sales Officer Jan Marsalek, the EY forensic experts then ended their work months later, before they had completed their investigation. "From our point of view, it was not finished," said the witness on the 137th day of the mammoth trial, which has been running since December 2022.

The EY auditors, who worked separately from the forensic experts, nevertheless issued Wirecard with an unqualified audit opinion for the balance sheet. The witness did not know why his colleagues ultimately decided to do so: "In the end, it's the auditors' decision."

Commerzbank had also raised suspicions

Today, EY is facing numerous lawsuits from Wirecard shareholders who are demanding compensation because the auditors approved the Wirecard balance sheets up to 2018. In the Wirecard trial, a former board member of Commerzbank also recently reported that the bank wanted to terminate its business relationship with Wirecard in 2019 due to suspected manipulation.

The indictment accuses former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun, former Dubai-based manager Oliver Bellenhaus and the Group's former chief accountant of having fabricated fictitious sales for years in order to keep the company afloat.

Braun denies all the allegations, while Bellenhaus, who appears as a key witness, has largely admitted to the charges. The former chief accountant has so far remained silent and intends to make his first statement next week./cho/DP/men