Angela Merkel will be quizzed over why she lobbied for Wirecard just months before the company collapsed due to ‘missing’ £1.6billion in Germany’s biggest fraud
- Chancellor Angela Merkel will be questioned in the Wirecard inquiry on Friday
- It is the climax in an affair that has blighted Germany’s reputation for rectitude
- Government claims Merkel lobbied for Wirecard unaware of insolvency issues
Chancellor Angela Merkel will be asked by German lawmakers on Friday why she lobbied for payments company Wirecard just months before it collapsed in the country’s biggest post-war fraud.
Merkel’s appearance will mark the climax of a public inquiry into an affair that has tainted Germany‘s reputation for rectitude, exposed ties between politics and business and prompted resignations and criminal investigations.
The government has said that Merkel did not know at the time of the irregularities at Wirecard, which has since been dismantled after its disclosure of a 1.9billion euro (£1.6billion) financial hole triggered its insolvency.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will be asked by German lawmakers on Friday why she lobbied for payments company Wirecard just months before it collapsed in the country’s biggest post-war fraud
Merkel’s appearance marks the climax of a public inquiry into an affair that has tainted Germany’s reputation for rectitude, exposed ties between politics and business and prompted resignations and criminal investigations
Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story, although few really understood it. Once valued at £20billion, it abruptly unravelled last year.
Lawmakers say that the German government was biased in favour of the company, turning a blind eye to allegations of irregularities in the run up to its collapse.
Parliamentarians will ask Merkel why she brought up Wirecard’s planned takeover of a company in China during a state visit in September 2019. A senior official in her office had also pledged further support for Wirecard.
Lawmakers say that the German government was biased in favour of the company, turning a blind eye to allegations of irregularities in the run up to its collapse
Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story
‘The Chancellor lobbied for Wirecard with the most powerful man in China,’ said Fabio De Masi, one of the lawmakers leading the public inquiry, asking why she gave it such priority.
In power since 2005, Merkel remains popular, although her legacy, such as her 2015 decision to open Germany’s borders to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East, divided opinion.
The Wirecard debacle tarnished her government’s reputation by shining a spotlight on the lengths some German politicians have gone to in order to support companies.
Stephan Klaus Ohme of Transparency International said had it exposed cracks in Germany’s laissez-faire model towards industry, leaving companies largely to their own devices.
‘In Germany, you should stick to the rules but if you don’t, nothing happens. The penalties are laughable,’ he added.
The Wirecard debacle tarnished the Merkel government’s reputation by shining a spotlight on the lengths some German politicians have gone to in order to support companies (Pictured: Finance Minister Olaf Scholz arrives to testify at the public inquiry on April 22)
Stephan Klaus Ohme of Transparency International said had it exposed cracks in Germany’s laissez-faire model towards industry, leaving companies largely to their own devices