Wirecard has announced it will lay off 730 out of its 1,300 staff in Germany following a $2.1 billion scandal that left the company insolvent in June.
According to an Aug. 25 report from Law360, Michael Jaffé, a lawyer and representative of Wirecard's administrator, said that "far-reaching cuts" were necessary for the company to effectively maintain the option of exploiting its core businesses.
"The usual restructuring and cost-adjustment measures are not sufficient," Jaffé said. “The economic situation of Wirecard AG was and is extremely difficult in light of the lack of liquidity and the well-known scandalous circumstances."
Two months ago auditors were unable to locate more than $2.1 billion that was supposed to be sitting in the FinTech firm’s Philippines-based accounts. Former CEO Markus Braun and other executives have been arrested for misrepresenting the company’s balances, and the payment processor ended up filing for insolvency on June 25.
Wirecard’s UK subsidiary issued a number of crypto debit cards including for Crypto.com and TenX, and the fallout from the audit saw the firm suspended by the country’s Financial Conduct Authority.
At least six people from Wirecard were able to find alternative employment prior to Jaffé’s announcement. According to an Aug. 25 report from Reuters, a six-person technology team from Wirecard will be moving to Berlin-based FinTech group finleap.
Since the dissolution announcement, Wirecard has made arrangements to sell its U.K. operations to Railsbank, a local startup backed by Visa, and its Brazilian business to PagSeguro Digital, a New York competitor. Jaffé stated the company was currently in negotiations with several interested parties regarding the sale of its core business.
Despite Braun’s arrest and the firm currently in administration, there are still a few loose ends in this ongoing scandal. Chief operating officer (COO) Jan Marsalek is reportedly on the lam in Russia, financing his fugitive status with Bitcoin (BTC) he was able to transfer from Dubai. In addition, a Mastercard executive at the FBME bank in Cyprus has recently been implicated in covering up money laundering connected with Wirecard.
Wirecard's creditors will meet for the first time in Munich in November.
今年6月，Wirecard曝出了21亿美元的丑闻，导致公司资不抵债，公司宣布将在德国1300名员工中裁员730人。
根据Law360 8月25日的一份报告，律师兼Wirecard管理人的代表Michael Jaffé表示，公司要想有效地维持开发核心业务的选择权，就必须进行“大幅削减”。
Jaffé表示：“通常的重组和成本调整措施是不够的。鉴于缺乏流动性和众所周知的丑闻情况，Wirecard AG的经济状况在过去和现在都非常困难。”
两个月前，审计人员未能找到这家金融科技公司菲律宾账户中本应存在的超过21亿美元资金。其前首席执行官Markus Braun和其他高管因虚报公司余额而被捕，这家支付处理公司最终于6月25日申请破产。
Wirecard在英国的子公司发行了许多加密借记卡，包括Crypto.com和TenX在内的多张加密借记卡，这个子公司被英国金融行为监管局暂停业务。
在Jaffé宣布辞职之前，至少有6名Wirecard员工找到了其他工作。根据路透社8月25日的报道，Wirecard的一个6人技术团队跳槽到位于柏林的金融科技集团finleap。
自宣布解散以来，Wirecard公司已安排将其英国业务出售给由Visa支持的当地创业公司Railsbank，并将其巴西业务出售给纽约的竞争对手PagSeguro Digital。Jaffe表示，该公司目前正在与几个有兴趣的各方就出售其核心业务进行谈判。
尽管Braun被捕，公司目前仍在管理之中，但这场持续不断的丑闻仍有一些未解决的问题。据报道，首席运营官Jan Marsalek正在俄罗斯潜逃，他用从迪拜转来的比特币(BTC)为自己的逃犯身份提供资金。此外，塞浦路斯FBME银行的一名万事达高管最近涉嫌掩盖与Wirecard有关的洗钱活动。
Wirecard的债权人将于11月在慕尼黑举行首次会议。