German minister faces parliamentary grilling over Wirecard

BERLIN: Germany's finance minister faces a grilling by a parliamentary committee on July 29 over the spectacular collapse of payments provider Wirecard, the Bundestag group's spokeswoman told AFP Monday.

"The parliamentary clarification of the Wirecard scandal must go on in the summer break," said Lisa Paus, spokeswoman for the finance committee.

"Political responsibility must also be dealt with. Therefore, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier will be invited to attend," she added.

Scholz had last week offered to attend if a special session was called on the issue.

Wirecard collapsed last month after admitting that 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) missing from its accounts likely did not exist, in what auditors said appeared to be an "elaborate and sophisticated fraud".

Scholz has described the Wirecard debacle as "unparalleled in the financial world" and called for reforms of the country's finance watchdog Bafin.

But the finance minister himself has come under fire over the case as official documents show he knew about suspicions of misconduct at the company as early as February 2019.

With the political pressure ratcheting up, German media reported that the company's former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, who is wanted by German prosecutors, is holed up in Russia.

Citing unnamed business, judicial and diplomatic sources, Handelsblatt economic daily said Marsalek is staying in an estate west of Moscow under the supervision of Russian military intelligence service GRU.

Both the German and Russian governments declined comment on the report.

Wirecard's ex-CEO Markus Braun was last month arrested on suspicion of market manipulation and falsifying accounts. He has been released on bail.