Wirecard Suspends Top Executive After $2.1 Billion Goes Missing

(Bloomberg) -- Wirecard AG suspended management board member Jan Marsalek “on a revocable basis” after the company revealed that about 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in cash has gone missing.

The company also appointed James Freis to the management board with immediate effect. He was previously scheduled to assume his role as head of integrity, legal and compliance on July 1.

Marsalek was a former chief operating officer at Wirecard, who moved to manage business development after a reshuffle in May. He has been a member of Wirecard’s management board since 2010.

The shares plunged as much as 71.4% after Wirecard’s statement on Thursday morning spooked investors who have endured years of allegations of wrongdoing at the payments company. Wirecard warned that loans of up to 2 billion euros could be terminated if its audited annual report, delayed for the fourth time, isn’t published by June 19.

The audit firm Ernst & Young was unable to confirm the location of the cash in certain trust accounts, and there was evidence that “spurious balance confirmations” had been provided, Wirecard said in a statement on Thursday. That’s about a quarter of the consolidated balance sheet total, according to the statement.

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