BERLIN (Reuters) – Wirecard ex-CEO Markus Braun and two other executives at the defunct German payments firm were ordered to pay 140 million euros ($155 million) in damages on Thursday over loans to an Asian business partner that were never repaid.
A Munich court judge upheld claims by insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe that Braun and others had violated their duties in deciding to provide the loans to a company in Singapore.
The verdict, which is not final, is the latest chapter in one of Germany’s most egregious corporate scandals and is separate to the main trial against Braun and other executives over Wirecard’s demise.
The company collapsed in June 2020 with a 1.9 billion euro ($2.1 billion) hole in its balance sheet, turning the spotlight on politicians who backed it and regulators accused of moving too slowly to investigate allegations against it.
Braun, deputy finance chief Stephan von Erffa and Wirecard’s Asia representative Oliver Bellenhaus are currently on trial in Munich accused of fraud and falsifying financial statements.
Braun denies all wrongdoing.
In August, German prosecutors charged another two former Wirecard executives with several counts of embezzlement.
Jaffe and investors are trying to sue Wirecard managers and auditors for damages in various civil lawsuits.
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(Reporting by Christina Amann; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Jason Neely)
