German ‘Siege Mentality’ Blamed for Failures in Wirecard Scandal

German authorities systematically failed in uncovering the scandal around failed payments firm Wirecard AG even though there were multiple indications of wrongdoing early on, German opposition lawmakers said after presenting their findings from an inquiry.

Wirecard collapsed in 2020 after executives admitted that 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion) it had reported as assets probably never existed. The opposition parties presented a 675-page long final report on their findings in the Wirecard investigation committee which will be discussed in parliament June 25.

The parliamentary inquiry, which has heard testimony from around 100 witnesses, has been seeking to determine how the unprecedented ...