Faked immigration records in the Philippines were used to throw authorities off the scent of Wirecard chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, who has been missing since his dismissal from the firm in the wake of the discovery of a €1.9 billion black hole in the payment processor's accounts.
German police and prosecutors have yet to uncover the whereabouts of the former COO, who is implicated in a number of the overseas deals that have brought the company to the brink of collapse.
Shortly after his removal from the firm last month, Marsalek was last reported to have passed through the Philippines before boarding a flight to China on June 24.
However, this information seems to have been based on bogus immigration records, according to the Financial Times. Video footage, airlines manifests and other records confirm that he never entered the country, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a text message Saturday.
“The investigation has now turned to the persons who made the false entries in the database, their motives, and their cohorts,” Guevarra says. “The immigration officers who encoded these fictitious entries have been relieved and are now facing administrative sanctions.”
Separately, the Philippine central bank is investigating allegations that documents purporting to show that Wirecard held billions of euros in escrow at two of the country’s lenders, were forgeries.