Wirecard Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jan Marsalek has allegedly used Bitcoin to transfer himself funds in Russia where he is reportedly hiding. The funds originated from Dubai and landed in Russia according to Russian media outlet Kommersant.
Wirecard suffered one of the biggest hacks ever in the online banking industry with the card company late last month. More than $2 billion were hacked from wirecard users across the world affecting the world’s debit and credit line. Many other card operators including Payoneer and Moneybookers limited the transfer of funds in the aftermath too and thus the crisis effectively snowballed into a global credit crunch. While much of the issue has been resolved, the shady workings of the Wirecard company are now under the lens.
According to the report from Kommersant, Marsalek is in a private house in Moscow enjoying protection from Russian special services. If the news piece is to be believed, Wirecard executives were involved in the multi-billion dollar scam and the Russian secret agencies were involved in the scam. Several documents were also leaked into the media that showed Marsalek was in contact with Russian agencies and bragged about his contacts with the agencies to woo in traders in the United Kingdom.
Now as the auditors are finding out that more about the hack and trying to trace the $2 billion on the books of the card company, Marsalek as well as other executives are now being heavily scrutinized for their role in the cyber crime. Marsalek allegedly fled first to Philippines under the pretext of trying to locate the missing funds and then allegedly with the help of the Federal Security Service of Russia he made an escape to Moscow.
Markus Braun, the CEO of the company has already been arrested by security officials in Germany and a thorough investigation is being taken place. The use of Bitcoin by his subordinate Marsalek is also being investigated by the authorities.
The Wirecard scandal also affected the crypto industry in a limited, yet damaging capacity as many crypto cards like those of Crypto.com were managed by Wirecard and after the suspension of the service, the cards were also suspended and the funds frozen. However, now the cards are functional again after a successful application to the financial conduct authorities. The involvement of foreign government agencies in crypto hacking and payment disruption is not a new occurring as North Korea has reportedly used its arsenal of hackers to attack and compromise a few South Korean exchanges and payment companies every now and then.
Image soure: pixabay.com
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