Philippines confirms death of ex-Wirecard exec
Former Wirecard executive Christopher Bauer - one of several people being investigated over a multi-billion dollar fraud at the German company - died in The Philippines last month.
The country's Justice ministry confirmed the news on Thursday (August 13).
It said he died of natural causes in a hospital in Manila on July 27th and was cremated.
Philippine officials also said the 44 year-old German businessman had a pre-existing condition.
Bauer was part of an ongoing probe into the accounting scandal at the German payments firm.
The Philippines became connected to the saga when Wirecard initially claimed that a missing $2.1 billion had been kept in two Philippine banks.
The banks denied this.
The Philippines was also linked to Wirecard through its former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek.
He was recorded as entering the country on June 23rd and then leaving for China a day later, around the time that news of the scandal broke.
The Philippines last month said those travel records had been falsified.
German prosecutors appealed on television on Wednesday for help in tracking down Marsalek
And issued a wanted notice for the manager they suspect of embezzling billions of euros.
Munich-based Wirecard collapsed in June after auditors EY refused to sign off on its 2019 accounts.
The company subsequently filed for insolvency owing debts of 3.2 billion euros - or around 3.8 billion dollars.
Three former top managers have been arrested on suspicion of fraud and racketeering in Germany’s biggest accounting scandal.
