Wirecard’s finance chief admits forging documents after facing pressure from KPMG
Wirecard’s former head of accounting has admitted forging documents, after coming under pressure to provide evidence of transactions during a special audit by KPMG.
Wirecard’s ex-chief financial officer, Stephan von Erffa, told prosecutors he falsified the documents, after coming under pressure from the auditor to provide evidence of a €50m payment, according to sources speaking to the Financial Times.
The accounting chief admitted creating a fake, back-dated email and corresponding financial documents, after facing intense pressure from KPMG to hand over documents that did not exist.
The forgery came after the German firm hired KPMG to audit its accounts, in an effort to clear itself of allegations of balance sheet manipulation, after suspicions were first raised by the Financial Times.
After KPMG’s auditors asked to see documents showing von Erffa had authorized the €50m payment, the accounting chief used a personal computer to falsify the backdated email and escrow authorization, von Erffa reportedly admitted to prosecutors.
The Wirecard financial chief reportedly told prosecutors the €50m transaction had been genuine after claiming the act of forgery had been a single, isolated incident that was not intended to falsely represent the company’s accounts.