Wirecard gets a win as UK court dismisses fraud case over deal

[FRANKFURT] Wirecard, the insolvent German payments processor engulfed in the country's biggest accounting scandal, won dismissal of a UK fraud case over its 2015 purchase of an Indian company.

The case, brought by the former owners of the company, Hermes I-Tickets, has no realistic prospect of success, the London commercial court ruled on Wednesday. The allegations lack substance and are contradicted by documents and other evidence, Judge Ross Cranston said in the ruling, granting Wirecard's request to dismiss the case without trial.

"There is no basis to believe that a fuller investigation of the facts of the case would alter the evidence to affect the outcome," Judge Cranston wrote in the judgment. "There are no novel points of law to decide, nor any other compelling reason why this claim should be tried."

The former owners alleged fraud after Wirecard paid 326 million euros (S$517.8 million) to acquire the payment businesses. It had sold a short time earlier for only a fraction of the amount. The owners claimed the German company must have known about the price disparity and colluded with the people who orchestrated the transactions. They were seeking 27.5 million euros from Wirecard.

BLOOMBERG