Ian Patrick, FISM News – Sourced from Reuters American Wire and edited for brevity

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Wirecard collapsed on Thursday owing creditors almost $4 billion after disclosing a gaping hole in its books in Germany’s worst accounting scandal. The payments company filed for insolvency at a Munich court saying that with 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) of loans due at the end of the month its survival as a going concern was “not assured.”

Its implosion came a week after EY, its auditor for over a decade, refused to sign off the 2019 accounts, forcing out Chief Executive Markus Braun and leading Wirecard to admit that $2.1 billion of its cash probably didn’t exist.

The ascent of Wirecard was dogged by allegations from whistleblowers, reporters and speculators that its revenue and profits had been pumped up through fake transactions. Braun fended off the critics for years before finally calling in outside auditor KPMG late last year to run an independent investigation.

KPMG, which published its findings in April, was unable to verify 1 billion euros in cash balances, questioned Wirecard’s acquisition accounting and said it could not trace hundreds of millions in cash advances to merchants. “Today is a complete vindication for those that exposed the fraud,” said Fraser Perring, who bet on a fall in Wirecard’s shares and co-authored a 2016 report that alleged fraud.

The Munich prosecutor’s office, which is already investigating Braun on suspicion of misrepresenting Wirecard’s accounts and of market manipulation, said: “We will now look at all possible criminal offenses.” Braun was arrested on Monday and released on bail of 5 million euros a day later. Former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek is also under suspicion and believed to be in the Philippines, according to justice officials there. ($1 = 0.8903 euros)

Wirecard is the first member of Germany’s prestigious DAX stock index to go bust, barely two years after winning a spot among the country’s biggest 30 listed companies with a market valuation of $28 billion. Creditors have scant hope of getting back the 3.5 billion euros they are owed, sources familiar with the matter said. Of that total, Wirecard has borrowed 1.75 billion from 15 banks and issued 500 million in bonds. “The money’s gone,” said one banker. “We may recoup a few euros in a couple of years but will write off the loan now.”

The collapse of Wirecard, once one of the hottest financial technology companies in Europe, dwarfs other German corporate failures. It has shaken the country’s financial establishment, with Felix Hufeld, the head of regulator BaFin, saying this week the scandal was a “total disaster.” Wirecard shares, which were suspended ahead of an earlier announcement that it would seek creditor protection, crashed 80% when trading resumed. They have lost 98% since auditor EY questioned its accounts last Thursday.

German law firm Schirp & Partner said that with Wirecard now effectively sidelined, it would file class actions against EY on behalf of both shareholders and bondholders. “It is frightening how long Wirecard AG was able to operate without being objected to by the auditors,” partner Wolfgang Schirp said.