BERLIN: German lawmakers probing the collapse of payments firm Wirecard are this week grilling top ministers and even Chancellor Angela Merkel as a parliamentary inquiry into the massive fraud reaches a dramatic climax.
The company's former CEO Markus Braun and several other top executives were arrested on fraud and money-laundering charges. Merkel should ask herself whether"promoting Wirecard was really appropriate or whether her office should not have looked into the warning signs earlier," said Frank Schaeffler, an MP from the pro-business FDP party who is on the committee.Also accused of being too slow to react is Merkel's would-be successor Scholz from the centre-left SPD, whose finance ministry oversees banking regulator Bafin, which has come under fire for its lax oversight of Wirecard.
Bafin also controversially filed a complaint against two Financial Times journalists who reported about irregularities at Wirecard, while dismissing their suspicions."CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR" As they grilled Economy Minister Altmaier on Tuesday, lawmakers questioned whether the ministry's auditing watchdog APAS should have scrutinised EY's work more closely.
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