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There is still no trace of Jan Marsalek since he left for Minsk in June and disappeared. His work up until this escape, however, fills more and more pages of investigation files and the Munich investigators are doing everything in their power to clear up the dubious cash flows in the former Wirecard manager’s environment. On Tuesday, they arrested a former business partner of Marsalek and demanded an arrest warrant for risk of absconding. From him they obviously hope to find out how Marsalek has managed his millions over the years and where the money came from.
At first glance, the proceedings against the man are not about Wirecard. The prosecutor accuses him of embezzlement amounting to over 2.5 million euros. He is said to have withdrawn an amount of this amount from IMS Capital, which, according to investigators, was essentially endowed with money from Marsalek – before they filed for bankruptcy last week. The arrest lawyer declined to comment on SZ’s request with reference to the ongoing investigation.
Again in this context there is again the suspicion that Marsalek may have diverted millions from Wirecard for himself. And the question of where this money might have gone. This led investigators to IMS Capital, a Berlin-based but Munich-controlled investment firm. More precisely: from a representative villa in Bogenhausen, where Marsalek went in and out.
IMS Capital is one of the two largest shareholders of Munich-based Getnow, an online supermarket through which customers can purchase groceries. The company, founded in 2015, has 130 employees, offers its service in more than 100 cities and is one of the fastest growing food delivery services in Germany. But now Getnow has gone bankrupt, as have IMS Capital last week and Wirecard Group four months ago.
All three failures have something to do with each other, as Marsalek is said to have been one of Getnow’s top financiers according to investigators’ findings, apparently through Getnow shareholder IMS Capital. Apparently, no money has passed since Marsalek’s disappearance. According to the interim bankruptcy trustee, Getnow had received “investor money in the double-digit millions” for its expansion – which may have been money from Marsalek or his immediate environment. According to the bankruptcy administrator, a new round of financing was now planned, but it failed. The activity is temporarily suspended, the website is offline and shows “maintenance work”. However, you should try to save the online supermarket.
And Munich investigators want to know more about the money Marsalek invested in Getnow. Apparently this is a total of 50 million euros. What’s irritating in this context: Getnow Holding Limited in the Isle of Man tax haven is Getnow’s largest shareholder. According to the commercial register, it holds 45 percent of the shares in the delivery service. The second largest shareholder is IMS Capital Partners with 39%. The company was run by the confidant Marsalek of Munich who had just been arrested and was registered as a tenant of the villa in Bogenhausen.
People familiar with the events suspect another close business friend of the fugitive manager behind the Isle of Man company. It is said that part of a $ 50 million loan Marsalek had obtained from his colleague and longtime boss of Wirecard Markus Braun was repaid with the money of this Getnow Holding Limited. Braun’s attorneys recently denied that their client behaved illegally with the Marsalek loan.
There seems to be a heated argument in Marsalek’s former circle of friends
In Marsalek, however, the question arises where the money for Getnow Holding Limited came from. Did the former Wirecard manager launder money in the secret Isle of Man tax haven? Maybe money from Wirecard?
Wirecard itself is also said to have invested 1.8 million euros in Getnow through a group company, Wirecard Asia Holding. Getnow, on the other hand, is said to have officially worked with Wirecard in payment processing and thereby generated sales for the bankrupt group. Wirecard and Asia looks suspicious. The insolvent payment service provider has lost more than one billion euros in recent years. Marsalek’s confidants had created a network of companies, mainly in Asia, to which the group had made large loans. Now the question is whether Marsalek diverted millions in this way and whether the longtime Wirecard board of directors used the money to finance private investments. There is also a suspicion of money laundering.
The now arrested businessman may have wanted to avoid being left on land after Marsalek escaped. This may have been a reason to steal a million dollars from IMS. Other Marsalek confidants are said to have filed a lawsuit against the businessman and filed criminal charges. In Marsalek’s previous circle of friends, a violent argument appears to have broken out after his escape. And this week’s arrest certainly didn’t see the final climax.
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