Two Bank Workers Banned by Central Bank in the Philippines for Wirecard Fraud

Two bank workers, involved in issuing fake documents, have been banned by the Central Bank. The activities contributed to $2.1 billion that is approximately ₱104 billion in the Wirecard scandal. One of the bankers is an employee at BDO Unibank, while the other one is from the Bank of Philippine Islands.

As said by the Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, both of them had falsified bank certificates to the auditor of German firm regarding a trust account that held Wirecard’s money. He further stated that the disqualification process is complete by the BSP and it has also enlisted all the people involved in falsification of documents. Diokno has also confirmed the disqualification of everyone from entering the banking system.

The central bank bans two bankers who issued fake documents that contributed to the $2.1-billion (about ₱104 billion) Wirecard scandal. https://t.co/5ksZEiKfIb

— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) October 8, 2020

Two lenders reported this incident, and it was exposed in June. Based on the same reports, regulatory authorities of the country have decided on disqualifying the guilty. Earlier, BDO stated that a marketing officer was fired for issuing fake bank certificates about Wirecard’s money. After a few days, an assistant manager was suspended for similar documents that affirmed for an inexistent trust account of Wirecard AG to Ernst & Young Germany, an external auditor.

On the other hand, both banks are denying that they held any missing cash or had a business relationship with the German payments organization. None of the transactions entered the financial system, according to the BSP.
Wirecard’s CEO, Markus Braun, was suspected for accounting fraud and has been arrested in Germany.