Two former execs jailed in Singapore in first conviction over Wirecard fraud

Vivienne Tay

Published Tue, Jun 20, 2023 · 01:20 PM

This is the first Wirecard-related conviction in Singapore and globally. PHOTO: REUTERS

TWO individuals have been sentenced to jail in the first Wirecard-related conviction in Singapore and globally. They pled guilty to charges for their role in the scandal.

James Aga Wardhana, who was Wirecard Asia’s international finance process manager at the time of the incident in 2018, was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment. Chai Ai Lim, who was head of finance at Wirecard Asia, was sentenced to a 10-month jail term.

Wardhana, who was responsible for setting up standard operating procedures of Wirecard Asia’s finance department, reported to Edo Kurniawan, the company’s former vice-president of controlling and international finance.

Kurniawan left Singapore on Oct 10, 2018, before investigations started. An Interpol red notice was issued against him in September last year, weeks after a warrant of arrest was issued.

The prosecution noted that Wardhana abetted Kurniawan to “dishonestly misappropriate” S$223,070 from Wirecard Asia’s bank account. He also instructed third parties to falsify invoices to bill the company for non-existent services and laundered the benefits from the conspiracy to unknown persons.

Meanwhile, Chai abetted Kurniawan in a conspiracy to dishonestly misappropriate S$47,000 from Wirecard Asia’s bank account. She oversaw the company’s accounting team, which handled accounts for Wirecard entities in the Asia-Pacific region.

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 19, 2020 Markus Braun, the former chief executive of disgraced payments giant Wirecard, waits to face a public grilling by German lawmakers over the massive accounting fraud that brought down his firm, in Berlin. - More than two years after the collapse of German digital payments firm Wirecard stunned the financial world, ex-CEO Markus Braun and two former managers will go on trial for fraud on December 8, 2022. (Photo by FABRIZIO BENSCH / POOL / AFP)

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The prosecution said that Wirecard Asia suffered a total loss of S$88,200 due to her participation in the conspiracy. It noted, however, that Chai paid S$70,000 as restitution to the company on Jun 13, 2023.

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