Philippines Probes Money Flows Linked to Wirecard, Ex-Official
Philippines Probes Money Flows Linked to Wirecard, Ex-Official
(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines is examining financial transactions of a law office and a tour operator that “appeared to have acted for” Wirecard AG or the company’s former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.
The National Bureau of Investigation has submitted a progress report on its probe with the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Guevarra said in mobile-phone messages, without naming the companies under investigation. Three immigration officials who allegedly tampered with Marsalek’s travel records in the Philippines have been charged and suspended, the official added.
The anti-money laundering council said in September that it’s scrutinizing 57 foreigners and local bank officers for possible ties to the German firm implicated in an accounting scandal. The central bank has also banned former bank employees from the industry for allegedly falsifying documents for Wirecard.
Philippine lenders BDO Unibank Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands earlier said that they didn’t have a relationship with Wirecard, and that rogue employees falsified documents that indicated the presence of some funds. The central bank has also said that none of Wirecard’s missing cash entered the country’s financial system.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.