Authorities in the city-state have added two charges against the local director of accounting firm Citadelle, which reportedly handled money for Wirecard in a trustee capacity, although it was not licensed to do so in Singapore.
R. Shanmugaratnam was charged with «wilfully and with intent to defraud,» falsifying letters to Wirecard U.K. & Ireland, and Cardsystems Middle East about the funds held in its escrow accounts, «Bloomberg» reported on Thursday.
Shamnugaratnam was the first person to be indicted over the collapse of Wirecard. He already faces four charges of false statements, according to charge sheets filed last month. Each charge carries a maximum ten-year jail term.
His new charges this week were for falsely stating in May 2016 that there was a balance of €41.5 million ($49.09 million) held by Citadelle in an escrow account on March 31, 2016, and for misrepresenting that there was €30.4 million held by Citadelle in another escrow account, the report said.
Spectacular Collapse
Wirecard is at the center of one of the biggest corporate accounting scandals in recent years, having admitted that €1.9 billion is missing from its financial accounts. The firm's CEO Markus Braun as well as other top executives have been arrested, while former operating chief Jan Marsalek remains missing. The scandal has spread to German regulator Bafin, which is being sued by Wirecard investors for allegedly overlooking warning signs.
On Thursday, the «Financial Times» reported that facing pressure from investors, German bourse DAX changed its rules to be able to remove Wirecard from its blue-chip index ahead of a scheduled September review of constituents, capping off the firm's spectacular collapse.
The payment group’s shares, which once traded at almost €200 ($236.87), are now worth little over €1.
