Ex-Wirecard boss Markus Braun has achieved another success against his manager’s liability insurance in the dispute over the assumption of legal fees in court. The higher regional court (OLG) Frankfurt determined as an appeal instance in an urgent procedure on Wednesday that Braun has provisional insurance cover and can therefore claim the insurance for defense and legal costs (Az .: 7 U 19/21).
Main proceedings are still pending at the Frankfurt Regional Court (Az .: 2-08 O 308/20). Ultimately, the legal dispute is about the question of whether it will be legally established in civil or criminal proceedings whether Braun has committed a criminal offense. In this case, the insurance company would have leverage to avoid payments.
“According to the contractual terms and conditions, insurance cover does not cease to apply until an intentional or knowledgeable breach of duty is determined,” said the OLG. “A legally binding decision or an admission required for this determination is missing here, so that provisional insurance cover is to be granted.”
The defendant insurance company refused to take over the costs, stating that Braun had “withheld risk-increasing circumstances and fraudulently deceived the defendant” from at least 2016 onwards. This is how the Regional Court of Frankfurt reported in its first instance judgment in favor of the former Wirecard CEO of January 18 of this year (Ref .: 2-08 O 320/20).
The Wirecard Group, which has since been broken up, admitted air bookings of 1.9 billion euros last June and subsequently filed for bankruptcy. The previously long-celebrated payment service provider flew out of the German Dax share index, and the Munich public prosecutor’s office is investigating commercial gang fraud. The prosecutors assume that Wirecard has shown fictitious profits since 2015. Ex-boss Braun and two other managers have been in custody since summer 2020.
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