Wirecard

Wirecard, founded in Germany in 1999, rose to become the country’s fintech champion, processing payments worldwide and joining the elite DAX 30 index in 2018 at a valuation above €24 billion. For years the Financial Times reported on suspicious accounting, met with denials and regulatory hostility toward the journalists. In June 2020 auditors refused to sign off because €1.9 billion supposedly held in trust accounts could not be found — it likely never existed. Wirecard filed for insolvency days later. CEO Markus Braun was arrested; COO Jan Marsalek vanished and remains a fugitive.