The criminal trial surrounding the billion-euro bankruptcy of the financial group Wirecard will continue against the wishes of several defense lawyers.

On Wednesday, the Munich Regional Court rejected the motions for a stay filed by defense attorneys for former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun and the chief accountant, who is also on trial, the court announced. However, the judges postponed the next three trial days, thus accommodating the defense lawyers who had requested more time to review extensive new investigation files. The trial is now scheduled to continue on February 8. This means that Braun's first personal statement in the trial is not expected until later in February.

The defense lawyers of two of the three defendants had accused the public prosecutor's office of withholding mountains of documents and only submitting them piece by piece since the start of the trial in December. This violated the defendants' right to a fair trial. For this reason, the trial had to be interrupted and restarted at a later date.

The criminal division now contradicted this: the expected duration of the proceedings of over a year offered the opportunity to use opportunities for the defense based on subsequently delivered files. In addition, the court held out the prospect of granting the defense attorneys sufficient preparation time in the scheduling and conduct of the proceedings in the event that documents were subsequently received.

According to the court, there is no right of appeal against the rejection of their applications. However, the decision could have repercussions after a verdict: According to those involved in the proceedings, the defense lawyers could attempt to challenge a later ruling by referring to the rejection of their applications.

Wirecard collapsed in June 2020 when it became known that €1.9 billion was missing from its coffers. Three former managers of the DAX-listed company are therefore accused of accounting fraud, market manipulation, breach of trust and gang fraud. Braun's defense lawyers have rejected the accusations. One of the three defendants has already testified extensively in the trial and heavily incriminated the other two managers. The statements of this key witness will initially continue to be the subject of the trial on February 8.

(Report by Jörn Poltz, edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)