Wirecard's long-standing chief lawyer believes that the payment processor's alleged third-party partner business is a fabrication.

"In my opinion, according to the investigations, this did not exist," said Andrea Görres as a witness in the trial against former CEO Markus Braun at the Munich Regional Court on Monday. The business of processing payments for partners, particularly in Asia, accounted for a large part of Wirecard's turnover and practically all of its profits.

Görres is still working for the company, which slipped into insolvency three years ago in an accounting scandal. She is currently working for insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe in an attempt to track down the traders with whom Wirecard allegedly worked. Braun and two other managers are accused of serious gang fraud and market manipulation, among other things, in the mammoth trial.

During questioning by Judge Markus Födisch, the witness repeatedly referred to gaps in her memory. Her relationship with Braun had been "professional, sometimes a little difficult". She had found it difficult to get through to him with advice on legal issues. "He was interested in short-term success, the guidance had to be fulfilled at all costs," Görres reported about Braun. Contracts were often published before they had even been drawn up.

In a Telegram chat on record, Braun described them as "stupid". "That has happened before," said the head lawyer. She had apparently rarely questioned the instructions from above. "We often didn't know with whom a contract had been concluded," said Görres. "I can understand why they think that's implausible, but that's how it was."

(Report by Alexander Hübner. Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)