The Munich Regional Court has sentenced three former Wirecard board members to pay a total of 140 million euros in damages plus interest.
Presiding Judge Helmut Krenek assumes that they acted at least negligently when granting a loan and when subscribing to bonds and must therefore be held liable for the damage caused.
Specifically, it concerns the former CEO Markus Braun and the finance and product directors. The lawsuit was filed by insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe, who wants to secure money for creditors through the proceedings. The verdict is not legally binding. On the contrary: process observers expect that there will be appeals.
However, Jaffe failed in one part of the lawsuit: According to the ruling, former deputy chairman of the supervisory board Stefan Klestil should not pay. Although Krenek also found that he had violated his supervisory duties, the judge said this did not lead to liability.
Loan was not secured
The court, however, saw clear responsibility on the part of the three board members because the loan was not secured and there had been no thorough financial review before the bonds were issued.
