FT Investigations. Dubious accounting and all that. 'Your sister’s nice boyfriend'. Wrote Money Men penguin.co.uk/books/444756/m…
London
- Tweets 12,844
- Following 1,273
- Followers 33,934
- Likes 1,080
Pinned Tweet
Who is Jan Marsalek?
Well, have I got one hell of a story for you amazon.co.uk/Money-Men-Start…
17
33
192
58,518
Today's the day! Our movie is out on Netflix!
#wirecardskandal
Let me know what you think
145
216
1,612
Wow. Many words bound and printed. Almost eight years since @johnhempton mentioned a funny little German company called Wirecard. Never imagined where it would lead
47
110
1,082
I’m kinda speechless. Thanks everyone, thanks to the jury, the whistleblowers, and the wonderful @CharlotteMcCrum who had to put up with Wirecard’s trolls and shenanigans, as well as me.
The Journalist of the Year award goes to Dan McCrum @FD of the @FT who faced down intimidation, surveillance and personal threats as well as a campaign of disinformation to bring down one of Germany’s most garlanded businesses, Wirecard #BJA2020
65
61
911
"Have you been arrested yet?"
This is the tale of the spies, the hacking, the put-up job, the sock puppets, the fancy restaurants, the digital handbag and the many, many professionals taking Wirecard's money to fight and intimidate its critics
ft.com/content/745e34a1-0ca7…
63
361
900
A clear out of legal files at the FT unearthed that time Wirecard sued me for half a million euros. Great days
24
55
902
240,259
I'm delighted to receive the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism 2020
Ludwig-Erhard-Preis für Wirtschaftspublizistik 2020 geht an #Wirecard-Aufdecker Dan McCrum (@FD) von @FinancialTimes. Förderpreise an @MartinBraml, ifo Zentrum für Außenwirtschaft, @ifo_Institut und @HansRusinek, Chefredakteur @transformag .
ludwig-erhard.de/meldung/lud…
49
55
753
MONEY MEN is out today!
The thrilling true story of Wirecard’s wild rise and crashing fall charts an investigation like no other. It reveals hidden worlds of short sellers and whistleblowers, pornographers and private militias, hackers and spies. 🧵1/6
amazon.co.uk/House-Wirecard-…
61
129
645
For background on Wirecard collapse today, these are the two key stories.
In October, we wrote that sales and profits appeared fraudulently inflated.
ft.com/content/19c6be2a-ee67…
In December, we wrote that "trustee accounts" were included in cash balances.
ft.com/content/845b0dce-1836…
36
245
613
Good morning America, the New Yorker has one hell of a tale for you today newyorker.com/magazine/2023/…
28
121
568
162,578
Personal news Klaxon! 🚨🚨
I’m writing a BOOK about the Wirecard adventure, to be published in the UK by those terrific folks at Transworld thebookseller.com/news/trans…
27
19
572
We made a video to explain the Wirecard story:
"At times I thought I was going crazy." ft.com/video/37cb70e6-72df-4…
67
179
545
Jan Marsalek spotted in Moscow!
SZ have teamed up with the Dossier Center to track down Wirecard's absconded spymaster/thief, with a lot of detail about his new name - German Bazhenov - restaurant choices, FSB minders, and a possible picture 👇
sueddeutsche.de/projekte/art…
19
139
506
Has a company ever filed for insolvency while still a member of the Dax 30 before? Asking for a friend
37
64
528
It feels great to finally have the backstory to our long Wirecard investigation out.
There wasn't room for all the twists and turns, or the battles faced by several people who helped expose the Wirecard fraud. I'm looking forward to telling their stories as well.
37
47
516
Startling figures from @jburnmurdoch on how many Americans die young
ft.com/content/653bbb26-8a22…
21
173
383
308,478
Wirecard says €1.9bn of cash is missing, indications auditors deceived, €2bn of loans could be terminated if accounts not published tomorrow.
Stock down two-thirds, FT story imminent
28
112
391
Thinking about no-deal Brexit, I'm reminded of @davidallengreen's point that the poll tax fury and rioting only started when the bills arrived.
ft.com/content/1db9b923-317c…
He quoted Ivor King and Antony Crewe:
17
142
321
Let’s name them. Schillings investigated me and threatened us with action, along with Herbert Smith Freehills.
Wirecard used Bub Memminger in Germany for its SLAPP
An unnamed law firm acted for Wirecard against the FT in a defamation action following the FT’s reporting by @FD @danmccrum that Wirecard was engaged in fraud. The reporting was correct. Using defamation proceedings to silence true accusations is characteristic of a SLAPP.
8
82
338
104,015
The last seven years of my life have been wild, full of weirdos, spies, outlandish discoveries, sleuthing, hangovers, bungling criminals, madcap schemes, Libyan militias and Russian nerve gas. And it’s all in this book, out June 2022. Order your copy here: penguin.co.uk/books/1444756/…
31
73
351
Bellingcat traces Wirecard’s Jan Marsalek to Belarus, and has details of his many trips to Russia and multiple passports bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-e…
14
137
336
The #cryptocrash reminds me a little bit of the day Wirecard announced €1.9bn of its money was "missing".
(June 18, 2020, two years ago this week)
🧵
10
28
300
“A crime to tell the truth.” Don’t let 2021 arrive without reading this eye-opening account of the Assange case by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-…
10
184
279
Wirecard’s suspect accounting practices revealed - new story!
Documents point to an effort to fraudulently inflate sales and profits, and we’ve published them as well
ft.com/content/19c6be2a-ee67…
73
112
263
Same as it ever was
Missed a 2017 masterpiece 😂👌
"bitcoin has all the attributes of a pyramid scheme, requiring a constant influx of converts to push up the price, based on the promise of its use by future converts. So the ultimate value for bitcoin will be the same as all pyramid schemes: zero."
16
21
255
New FT investigation! We unpick the paper trail to discover two of Adani's biggest 'public' investors are associates of an Adani family member, and authorities suspected market manipulation years before @HindenburgRes allegations.
Secret paper trail reveals hidden Adani investors: our investigation based on documents shared with the @FT by the @OCCRP. By @FD and me on.ft.com/3OZsLv7 #India #AdaniGroup
9
66
235
85,846
New twist in the FT Investigation -
Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek bragged to London traders about his access to secret documents by showing them the formula for Novichok, the world's deadliest nerve agent. Free to read story: ft.com/content/941a9a2e-88df…
20
129
232
Carried interest is income
Carried interest is income
Carried interest is income
Tax it as income.
Higher tax on private equity executives’ lucrative, sometimes life-changing ‘carried interest’ payments would drive the industry out of the UK, a lobby group is set to warn. @FT scoop
on.ft.com/3ilr0qw
8
31
215
"Expanding the court is the way to save it. It’s a lot like breaking a bone to reset the leg."
If they insist on doing this, there's only one solution: expanding the court.
Everybody is familiar with the vengeance argument for court expansion, let me give you the REFORM argument. Court expansion is good, on its own merits.
My latest in @thenation
thenation.com/article/politi…
8
38
181
I did not expect to start the weekend on top of Stormy Daniels
Get ready for an exciting 2023 reading list with our latest arrivals! 📚💥 Discover gripping true stories like "Money Men" by @FD, unravelling a billion-dollar fraud, "Full Disclosure" by @StormyDaniels, a candid memoir, and "Rage" by @realBobWoodward , an insider's account of
15
14
214
71,293
Behind the collapse of Wirecard is a mother who pushed her son to do the right thing. “Oh my god, what have you done now?” thought Pav. The tale of the reluctant whistleblower revealed today ft.com/content/1d74221e-1321…
7
61
217
Well look at that, the Munich Prosecutors have dropped the case against @stef_palma and me.
ft.com/content/4ebd9032-d3d1…
11
24
192
Wirecard office furniture sale here, for anyone wanting that fintech fraud aesthetic haemmerle.de/de/objekte/au-1…
9
23
201
Jan Marsalek has left the building, gone to the airport, and flown to Manilla, says SZ.
He is not on the run, however!
"Friends of Marsalek say that he wants to get documents that could help clarify the case."
sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/w…
36
36
192
Predatory pricing, aggressive and possibly illegal tax strategies, labour exploitation
In 2 years, Uber went from being in just a few cities to more than 100.
How did Uber grow so quickly? We recruited hundreds of thousands of drivers.
I get asked a lot about how we did it, so here are some lessons that might be helpful to other startups 👇👇👇
2
23
160
Hallo Deutsche freunde, wir haben dem Wirecard-Video untertitel hinzugefügt.
ft.com/video/1f0febf4-f889-4…
6
50
181
Wirecard’s core business was loss making for years - new story from @OlafStorbeck based on the full set of info KPMG gave to the supervisory board in April on.ft.com/2ZKRrOG
8
64
175
Another day in Germany
A body in a burned car. Accusations of spying. Secret tapes.
Crazy, crazy story from @OlafStorbeck: ft.com/content/b02d110f-9a27…
7
42
165
This is the same DWS which invested about €500m of its investors’ money into Wirecard straight after we published our October piece on the apparent fraud, and the documents which supported it.
This DWS guy earns a living charging chunky fees to invest pension money. He now appears to be blaming “credulous” bank analysts for not spotting Wirecard, but not himself. So when investments work out well does he say “Oh it wasn’t me mate, I just read the Commerzbank note”?
7
42
157
Jaw is on the floor with this one.
UNBELIEVABLE ...German audit watchdog chief faces probe over HIS OWN Wirecard share trading (and he surely must be played by Oliver Kalkofe in the coming movie starring @FD ) ft.com/content/7c8da57b-aee5… via @financialtimes
7
28
161
Wirecard chief exec Markus Braun quits ft.com/content/120a27bf-ae35…
25
46
157
Commiserations to all the consultants on the drastic reduction in length of their gravy train
Saudi is scaling back 'The Line' project in Neom
• 2030 population target: from 1.5 million to 300k
• Length: from 170 km to 2.4 km by 2030
• At least one contractor is dismissing some workers on the site
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
2
16
153
34,210
If you didn't want to read the FT's tether coverage before...
FT Article Goes Down Road of Tabloid Journalism tether.to/ft-article-goes-do…
11
28
146
Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies
When people, especially reactionary people, trend on twitter. If you click it, often the tweets seem to be from people saying "can't believe XXXXXX is trending, its a disgrace" - perpetuating the trend.
Perhaps ignoring trends you don't like would be a better strategy?
3
21
131
Wirecard used to claim it used AI all the time, while on the inside staff cobbled together spreadsheets
Over 800 European fintechs say they use "AI and machine learning". But so did Greensill, a company now on its knees and without any tech prowess to show. It begs the question: how many fintechs *really* use elite tech tools? And is a reality check due? sifted.eu/articles/greensill…
12
21
140
ASTOUNDING Wirecard story from @samgadjones, Paul Murphy and @helenwarrell
It was early 2018 when Jan Marsalek held a meeting in his palatial home in Munich to talk about a new project he was interested in: arming and training 15,000 Libyan militiamen.
ft.com/content/511ecf86-ab40…
11
53
148
"Water running along a pavement will readily seep into every crack; so, too, did the unchecked coronavirus seep into every fault line in the modern world."
Must read piece from @edyong209
theatlantic.com/magazine/arc…
For instance, every stat in this paragraph
3
35
123
Apropos of nothing at all, a common tactic of liars is to answer a question with a question.
11
22
128
Attention today is moving to the Philippines, which is where the amazing @stef_palma went last year to look for Wirecard's partners and found a bemused sailor
ft.com/content/cd12395e-4fb7…
8
32
129
To celebrate the publication of MONEY MEN we are offering one lucky winner a signed copy of this real life thriller.
RT to win, delivered to a UK address, winner drawn June 18.
42
217
118
Football news! Everton FC bidder 777’s funding structure starts to unravel
Not just for sports fans. US insurance money was funnelled into trophy assets, throwing a spotlight on Bermudan regulators just as private equity makes the island its new home
ft.com/content/d3ad19d8-9e3d…
14
72
126
91,300
It's been seven wild years of adventures, weirdos and spies since the first House of Wirecard story appeared on Alphaville. Every twist and turn is in this book, which is going to be published in German on May 27 ullstein-buchverlage.de/nc/b…
8
17
125
A private US property trust has $23bn in assets, a long queue of investors wanting their money back, and not a lot of cash
Our look at how Starwood has paid out redemptions for its non-traded REIT by tapping almost all of its $1.5bn credit line, exhausting much of a big liquidity source and taking on added interest expense. @fd and myself.
on.ft.com/44IDq4W
11
35
110
37,352
The rise and fall of Wirecard
with the indefatigable @OlafStorbeck
ft.com/content/149cd24c-7a0d…
5
39
112
This bears up well, so far. How the EU negotiates
theguardian.com/politics/201…
6
75
106
"To say that the Metaverse is dead is an understatement. It was never alive."
5
13
103
20,299
New twist: immigration data showed Mr Marsalek arriving in Manila on June 23 and leaving for China the next day, but “CCTV footage does not show him arriving here and there is no record of any flight to China scheduled in the morning of June 24 from Cebu”. on.ft.com/3i6bPSC
19
40
113
This government
The head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce - no vaccine experience, retains her job in private equity, is married to a Conservative minister who went to Eton with Boris - disclosed “official sensitive” docs and told investors which drugs the UK might buy.
thetimes.co.uk/article/b6a81…
4
14
100
So Twitter locked my account yesterday. The tweets linking to the evidence informing our investigation were against the rules of this website, apparently.
7
57
93
The House of Wirecard
Half bond movie, half Dilbert cartoon
The Wirecard fraud is a scandal for the ages.
But has it also unwittingly revealed the futility of so many non-jobs in corporate office life?
The saga has been half Bond movie, half Dilbert cartoon.
ft.com/content/04c77d71-c2ff…
6
23
108
So many amazing details of the final months inside Wirecard, reconstructed here by @OlafStorbeck
As you read it ask: if I were on the board, at what point would I have called the police?
ft.com/content/6a660a5f-4e8c…
7
36
111
Good morning, so @samgadjones discovered that Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek was grandson to a suspected Russian spy.
ft.com/content/ebbc0fab-9969…
4
29
105
52,318
With Tesla's results due next week and its production target in mind, I'll re-up this for the 500,000th time
ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/07/…
6
25
105
Money Laundering - enter the ’Ndrangheta
Wirecard processed payments for a Maltese online casino that was later revealed to have laundered money for one of Europe’s most dangerous mafias.
Scoop from @MilesMJohnson and me
ft.com/content/b3eb9a37-ed8a…
7
55
101
Catching up on yesterday’s news that Markus Braun has had his bail revoked, and Wirecard’s former CFO is in custody too.
Prosecutors now think the alleged fraud started in 2015. They may want to have a look at the years before that as well. on.ft.com/3hiLi3g
7
18
105
The Wirecard fraud centres on faked documents.
Where did we start last year?
Whistleblower allegations of forged invoices and bogus contracts at its Asian headquarters
ft.com/content/d51a012e-1d6f…
4
24
97
Story here Wirecard says €1.9bn of cash is missing
ft.com/content/1e753e2b-f576…
14
34
98
"Think All The King’s Men meets The Big Short” says the FT. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ft.com/content/812d2446-0e85…
3
21
95
Is there ever a more reassuring sentence than ‘don’t worry, your money is safe’?
JUST IN: 🇸🇻 El Salvador President says "if you invested in #Bitcoin your investment is safe and its value will immensely grow after the bear market."
7
18
90
A boat leaves for India carrying coal. While at sea the price of its cargo unaccountably doubles…
More digging from @FD and @FT on the Adani coal imports that quietly doubled in value. “The data supports longstanding allegations that Adani…has been inflating fuel costs and led to millions of Indian consumers and businesses overpaying for electricity.” on.ft.com/3tA5vwF
11
21
91
29,713
Why do we trust fraudsters?
My piece for the Weekend FT takes a look at scams from Enron to Wirecard to explain why investors, staff and regulators keep falling for the big lie
ft.com/content/be87eb5a-d1c9…
5
30
93
Significant new Wirecard story by @OlafStorbeck @Tabby_Kinder and @stef_palma:
EY failed for more than three years to request crucial account information from a Singapore bank where Wirecard claimed it had up to €1bn in cash — a routine audit procedure
ft.com/content/a9deb987-df70…
13
27
87
Wirecard scored a legal victory in London yesterday, as in the mind of Judge Ross Cranston fraudulent conduct by Wirecard just didn't make sense on the balance of probabilities. ft.com/content/d01f7561-82b0…
This Linklaters paragraph is one to file away:
17
17
89
One of the best moments of our investigation was talking to Stefania after she visited the address of a supposed Wirecard payments processor outside Manila and found a fisherman's house. "Oh my god Dan, you won't believe it..."
So pleased to watch the Reporterpreis award ceremony overnight - big kudos to @FD & team @murphyp @OlafStorbeck Thank you @reporterforum for the acknowledgement - here's link to @OlafScholz & Dan's speeches reporter-forum.de/olaf-schol…
7
88
BaFin noted the “homogenous cultural background” of Israeli and British investors targeting Wirecard when summarising grounds for a suspected conspiracy. More incredible reporting from @OlafStorbeck
“BaFin’s statement is evidence of a deeply rooted siege mentality and a repulsion of Anglo American capital market structures... This language .. is unworthy of a German regulatory agency.” @DerDanyal nails it. ft.com/content/34eeac68-e18c…
6
18
93
Dossier Centre version with cool double-life picture, from Munich to Moscow
dossier.center/yan-german-en…
2
31
85
Wirecard acknowledged for the first time on Monday the potential scale of a multiyear accounting fraud, as the Germany payments group warned that €1.9bn of cash on its balance sheet probably does “not exist”.
ft.com/content/2581fda5-8c89…
10
24
91
Regulate, reduce harm
This is a fascinating piece by @SteveTransform outlining a viable plan for the legalisation of cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines politics.co.uk/comment-analy…
18
76
Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard is 🔥🔥🔥
Terrific reception at the Curzon Mayfair last night, I can’t wait for the rest of the world to start watching it on Netflix tomorrow.
Enormous thanks to the FT, Passion Pictures and Netflix. What a story to tell.
#wirecardskandal
6
5
82
🚨Competition time 🚨
To mark publication of MONEY MEN, the stranger than fiction thriller about Wirecard's multi-billion dollar fraud, I have 2 proof copies to give away.
To enter: predict the $ price of Tether at 10pm BST today. $0.9977 now
Closest wins one.
Reply to win!
130
9
82
Here's an interesting company: Fortnox, niche supplier of accounting software that only operates in Sweden, is valued more highly than Nvidia, the chip sensation.
@CostasMourselas and I took a look at its metronomic growth and the short sellers circling
ft.com/content/d6d4d1dc-1185…
7
18
90
25,761
Thanks to everyone who queued up at the @IInews Berlin Summit yesterday. Scribbled in about 200 copies by the end
9
1
89
12,185
