Skip to main content

The Philippines is investigating Wirecard and its missing $2 billion, and a local lawyer says he's being framed, say reports

* The Philippines is investigating local businesses that partnered the collapsed German payments company Wirecard, the Financial Times reported. * Wirecard went into administration and its former CEO Markus Braun was arrested after the firm claimed that more than $2 billion had disappeared from its balance sheet. Its auditor EY said the firm committed elaborate fraud. * Wirecard had claimed the money was stored in two Philippine banks, which they both denied. Now the authorities will probe around five local businesses thought to be involved with Wirecard. * Separately, a Filipino lawyer who opened bank accounts for Wirecard in the Philippines claims he's being framed for fraud. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Philippine authorities will probe local businesses thought to have connections to disgraced German payments firm Wirecard, which collapsed after admitting to a 1.9 billion euro ($2 billion) hole in its balance sheet, the Financial Times reported. The investigation is the latest probe as authorities in Singapore, Germany, and Brussels attempt to unpick the firm's accounting irregularities. According to the newspaper, the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation and Anti-Money Laundering Council will examine five businesses thought to be involved. The FT named Centurion Online Payment International, PayEasy Solutions, and ConePay International, all of which the newspaper had earlier identified in a March 2019 investigation as partners of Wirecard. According to that investigation, Wirecard claimed hefty commissions from several of these businesses, which didn't appear to have the paperwork (or the physical offices) to back the financial claims up. Separately, a Filipino lawyer who opened up six bank accounts for Wirecard has claimed he is being framed for the company's missing billions. Wirecard initially claimed its missing money was held in two Philippine banks, although both denied it. Lawyer Mark Tolentino told Reuters that he was the "victim of a frame-up." Tolentino has not been charged with a crime, but Philippine authorities said they plan to question the lawyer as part of their investigation. Tolentino told Reuters he had opened accounts for a Singapore-based firm, but didn't know it was Wirecard. "It seemed that all fingers were pointing to me to be the thief and manipulator of the missing money," he said. "I want to clear my name." Reuters noted that the lawyer declined to show documents that would clear his name. Wirecard filed for insolvency on Thursday, shortly after the arrest of its former CEO Markus Brown in Germany on suspicion of market manipulation and false accounting practices. The company was once the rising star of Germany's financial tech sector. It earlier admitted than more than $2 billion had disappeared from its balance sheet, and then later said the money may never have existed. The company's auditor EY on Friday accused it of orchestrating "an elaborate and complex fraud." Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Tax Day is now July 15 — this is what it's like to do your own taxes for the very first time
https://bit.ly/2NAr4Fk

Popular posts from this blog

PayPal parts with top advertising executive after shifting its marketing strategy during the pandemic

* PayPal's chief creative officer Steve Simpson, its top advertising executive, left the company after about a year. * The move came after PayPal shifted its marketing strategy during the coronavirus pandemic, placing less emphasis on the brand and more on catering to small businesses, said a source with direct knowledge of the marketing operation. * Simpson's departure followed that of CMO and former Apple executive Allison Johnson in May. Both "decided to leave PayPal" as the company streamlines its global marketing functions, according to a PayPal spokeswoman. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. PayPal's highest-ranking ad executive Steve Simpson left earlier this month after just over a year as part of a restructuring of its global marketing business. Simpson, who was chief creative officer, was hired to make high-minded ad campaigns to help PayPal stand out from competitors like Square, Stripe, and Apple Pay. But this strategy chan...
Read more

How to send your location on Snapchat to your friends through the app's Snap Map feature

* You can send your location on Snapchat to a single friend or to several users in a group.   * To send a location on Snapchat, you'll need to visit your friendship history with a user and locate the "Send My Location" feature.  * Once you send a location on Snapchat to a friend, they can tap it and zoom in to see where you are.  * Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories. Whether you want to share the location of your favorite restaurant or the address of your new apartment, you can easily send your location on Snapchat to your friends.  You can do this using the Snap Map and will even be prompted to select who you want to share you location with the first time you use the app feature. You can choose to share your location with your mutual friends, a list of friends with exceptions, or a small group of selected friends.  To send your location directly to a mutual Snapchat friend, you must visit your chat history through your friends li...
Read more

TikTok confirms it will sue the US government, alleging Trump failed to provide 'due process' before issuing ban

* TikTok confirmed Saturday that the company planned to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the popular app. * A company spokesperson said TikTok experienced "a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses." * TikTok, which has surged in popularity over the past year, was known as Musical.ly until it was purchased by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2017 and renamed. * The president on August 6 and August 14 signed executive orders targeting TikTok.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. TikTok on Saturday announced it plans to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders pertaining to its ownership, arguing the company was deprived of its due process rights. The president, who began targeting TikTok in July, issued an executive order August 6 making it illegal for American compani...
Read more