Wirecard (OTCMKTS:WCAGY) CEO Markus Braun has resigned as the company deals with a 1.9 billion euro scandal.
Wirecard doesn’t provide a reason as to why its CEO is resigning, but it no doubt has to do with the current scandal. The company reported a delay in its fiscal 2019 results on Thursday. It said the reason for this was the disappearance of almost 2 billion euros from its financial results.
With Braun stepping down, James Freis, Jr. is taking over his place as the interim CEO of the company. To go along with this, Jan Marsalek has been suspended from its management Board until June 30, 2020. Freis is also taking over his position on the Board.
According to Wirecard, it’s investigating the incident with an auditor. The company notes that there is evidence that fraudulent transactions were filed to make it appear as if the company has more money than it does.
It’s worth pointing out that the recent Wirecard scandal comes after accusations were made against it by the Financial Times. The publication claimed fraud was taking place at the company. This resulted in Wirecard suing the Financial Times saying that it was working with short-sellers. An investigation found this wasn’t the case, reports CNBC.
The Wirecard scandal is also causing problems between it and lenders. Many are seeking more clarity from the digital payments company in light of the recent news. It seems many are in favor of extending repayments, but more delays could cause that to change.
WCAGY stock was down 33.1% as of Friday afternoon.
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
