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On Monday morning, craftsmen continue to set the standard in the German Bundestag. They practice exercises and flex out loud at Paul-Löbe-Haus before the first week of meetings after the seven-day summer break begins. But shortly before noon, MPs rush through the corridors. His goal: the microphones installed in front of the finance committee room. The second special session on the Wirecard issue will take place there on Mondays and Tuesdays. What the people’s representatives say about the noise of the machines already sounds like an electoral campaign.
“We need clarification, not word bells,” says CSU finance politician Hans Michelbach, referring to the responsibility of SPD Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz. SPD’s Jens Zimmermann, on the other hand, first recalls the “criminal behavior” of Wirecard managers and also mentions the “interesting” role of fallen CSU star Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. Party friend Cansel Kiziltepe is even clearer: “The fact that a former minister and impostor has direct access to the seat of government shows a lack of political hygiene.”
Guttenberg had announced Wirecard’s entry into the Chinese market in a personal conversation with his former boss Angela Merkel. Soon after, Angela Merkel (CDU) discussed the plans in Beijing. At this point there were already numerous reports of possible irregularities in the company. Were they unknown or ignored?
In a special first meeting on Wirecard, these questions were left unanswered because the Foreign Ministry did not send a representative. This time, three Merkel employees came: State Minister Hendrik Hoppenstedt (CDU) and department heads Lars-Hendrik Röller (economics) and Bernhard Kotsch (secret services). According to the participants, it was mainly Hoppenstedt who spoke. Röller, who was actually responsible for putting pressure on Wirecard, only allowed a few subordinate clauses to speak.
Limited need for information
With current knowledge, so the conclusion of course would no longer be Wirecard compatible. But before Merkel’s trip, the need for information was apparently limited. In August 2019, the Foreign Ministry requested information about Wirecard from the Ministry of Finance after former secret service coordinator Klaus-Dieter Fritsche (CSU) requested an appointment on behalf of the company. Merkel’s people only received references to publicly available information, such as minor inquiries from the opposition or a short sale ban by financial supervisory authority Bafin for Wirecard’s shares.
At this time, the Bafin was already investigating specific indications of wirecard manipulation, and the British “Financial Times” in particular had repeatedly reported critically. According to the participants, Hoppenstedt emphasized that at the time of the trip to China, negative reports were not particularly well known.
At the Foreign Ministry, FDP financial politician Florian Toncar said they were not satisfied enough. “When I ask the specialist department, I want more than little consultations.” The China episode shows that the allegations against Wirecard have never been taken as seriously as the alleged speculation against the company. Green finance politician Danyal Bayaz sees it in a similar way: “That does not shed a good light on the processes at the Federal Chancellery.”
In the opposition’s view, Guttenberg’s role also continues to raise questions. According to the Chancellery, he had made an appointment with Merkel as a private citizen. In the conversation, Guttenberg campaigned for Wirecard, as well as the IT company Augustus Intelligence, for which young CDU star Philipp Amthor also worked. “I find it questionable that the Chancellor is working through Guttenberg’s clients in China,” says left-wing financial politician Fabio De Masi.
A payment service provider for the BND?
The role of the secret services in the Wirecard affair also causes a frown. Jan Marsalek, a member of the board of directors who had left in the meantime, had repeatedly boasted of her good contacts with the intelligence services. According to information from “Handelsblatt”, he now lives under the protection of the Russian foreign service SWR near Moscow.
At the time of Merkel’s trip to China, no information was available from the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Hoppenstedt insists on repeated investigations. However, she did not want to comment on one point: Could it be that Wirecard has made credit cards available to BND employees? Hoppenstedt justified her silence by saying that a response would allow conclusions to be drawn about the operation of the secret services.
Wirecard as a service provider for German agents? Much seems now conceivable. The scandal has something like a film thriller that increasingly electrifies political Berlin. Also for this reason, it is now very likely that the opposition will convene a commission of inquiry after the second hearing on Tuesday. The FDP and the left have already spoken in favor, the Greens continue to doubt. Together, the three parties would achieve the necessary quorum of a quarter of the deputies without having to depend on the votes of the AfD.
“The lighting hasn’t worked so far”
The committee would meet well into the Bundestag election campaign, and one thing has changed significantly over the summer break: Finance Minister Scholz, who is responsible for financial oversight, is now the SPD’s candidate for chancellor. The new situation was noted in what the CSU man Michelbach said. It was open to a committee. “Recognition hasn’t worked so far,” he said.
Left-wing politician De Masi claims that he has bet a bottle of red wine that there will be such a committee. And the FDP man, Toncar, took the wait-and-see attitude to the Greens as an opportunity to spark political competition. “The Greens have a lot of responsibility,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SPD-led ministries of finance and justice emphasize the will for swift reforms. Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht explained to MPs how auditing in Germany should be strengthened, among other things by changing audit firms more frequently and increasing the responsibility of inspectors.
When asked when her considerations would lead to a bill, the minister replied that this should be the case as of September. Not only the Bundestag craftsmen have a lot to do.
