Guevarra confirms German who died in Parañaque was Wirecard exec under probe

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed Thursday that the German businessman who died in Parañaque last month was a former executive of payments firm Wirecard.

Citing official documents submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Guevarra said Christopher Reinhard Bauer was the "same person summoned by the NBI in connection with the Wirecard fraud investigation."

Bauer, a former executive of Wirecard Asia, died of natural causes in a hospital in Parañaque City last July 27 and was subsequently cremated, Guevarra said.

The NBI earlier ordered authorities in Parañaque to submit records relating to Bauer's death.

The NBI and the Anti-Money Laundering Council are investigating an alleged multi-billion dollar fraud at Wirecard that was reported to have had links to the Philippines.

Wirecard's missing 1.9 billion euros (USD2.1 billion) was claimed to have been placed in two Philippine banks,  Banco de Oro and the Bank of the Philippine Islands, but both banks had denied this.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also said the money did not enter the country's financial system.

Wirecard's former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek was recorded as entering the Philippines on June 23 then leaving for China a day later, but the records were later found to have been falsified.

Two immigration officers face criminal complaints over the alleged falsification that investigators said was meant to mislead European authorities pursuing Marsalek. —KBK, GMA News