Anatomy of a Scandal: inside the Wirecard investigation and why we fall for scams

Dan McCrum, the FT reporter whose investigation brought down Wirecard, in conversation with Matt Garrahan, FT news editor, on how to expose fraud - and why we keep missing it when it's hiding in plain sight.

What have we learned from the Wirecard debacle?

There’s no doubt that the demise of Wirecard has shaken the payments industry to its core. For many, it was always assumed that the biggest benefit to businesses having access to large global banking networks was the ability for them to intelligently route payments to get the highest conversion rate and drive higher revenue. That assumption was found lacking. Even in 2020, accepting payments is something one can no longer take for granted. Check out the lessons we have learned HERE.

Wirecard Execs may have hidden $1billion before collapse

In anticipation of its collapse in June, Wirecard AG executives may have raided the German payment company and deposited $1 billion in partner companies while it fought allegations of accounting fraud, the Financial Times reported. 

The Wirecard Story

In just a decade, Wirecard went from a little-known German payment processing company to one of the most valuable financial services firms on the stock market with a valuation of 17.5 billion dollars. The company was so hyped by the investors, that they ignored the allegations of fraud made by the press. However, it all unraveled last week when its former CEO, Markus Braun, was arrested. This is the biggest financial scandal since the collapse of Enron in early 2000s so buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Wirecard and the missing €1.9bn

Surveillance, spear phishing and missing billions. 'At times I thought I was going crazy.' Journalist Dan McCrum explains the twists and turns behind the massive fraud.

Big Short: Fintech Fraud Wirecard Explained (EY Accounting Scandal)

Eddie Donmez takes a look at the German Payment processing Fintech- Wirecard. He dives into the 15-year long accounting fraud that saw €1.9bn go missing and draws parallels to previous scandals like Lehman Brothers and Enron. Are there more FinTechs out there that have grown too quickly and let their standard slip?

Wirecard and the missing billions

Payment processing company Wirecard was the darling of Germany’s fintech industry until auditors uncovered a $2 billion hole in its accounting. WSJ explains what we know about the missing money, as investigators are still trying to understand what happened.