2 convicted of falsifying accounts tied to collapsed payments firm Wirecard

Singaporean R. Shanmugaratnam was convicted on Sept 22 of 13 counts of falsification of accounts linked to nearly €11 billion (S$1.7 billion) purportedly in escrow for German payments company Wirecard, which has since collapsed, and its related firms.

- Shaffiq Alkhatib Court Correspondent

From 2016 to 2018, Shanmugarat-nam, 59, who was then a director of auditing services firm Citadelle Corporate Services, issued 13 balance confirmation letters falsely confirming to Wirecard AG, its related companies WCUKI and Card-systems, as well as their auditors, that Citadelle held the amount in escrow for the Wirecard entities across three financial years.

On Sept 22, Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 50, was also convicted of five counts of falsification of accounts after he abetted Shanmug-aratnam to issue five of the letters in March 2017.

The pair’s case is said to be linked to Austrian fugitive, former businessman and suspected spy operative for Russia Jan Marsalek, who was chief operating officer of Wirecard AG from 2010 to 2020.

An Interpol Red Notice has been issued against him.

Once such a notice is issued, the police in other countries can be on the lookout for foreign offenders. The Red Notice can then be used to support extradition proceedings after an arrest is made.

Oliver Bellenhaus, a German who used to be managing director of Cardsystems Middle East FZ - a Dubai subsidiary of Wirecard Technologies - was also named in court documents tendered by Singapore’s prosecution.

Escrow is an essential service in capital markets that supports transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.

Deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) Gordon Oh, Alexandria Shamini Joseph and Louis Ngia stated in their submissions: “(Shanmugaratnam) intended to deceive Wirecard AG, its subsidiaries and its auditors with the letters and thereby obtain advantages for himself, (Marsalek, Bellenhaus and O’Sullivan), and cause detriment to the auditors with the false confirmations.

“It is undisputed that (Shanmug-aratnam) prepared the letters knowing that the contents were false and at the behest of persons external to Citadelle. The key issue in dispute was whether (he) falsified the letters with intent to defraud.”