The Bureau of Immigration records showed Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer of the troubled European financial tech company Wirecard, arrived in Manila on June 23, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.
Guevarra said based on BI records, Marsalek left for China from Cebu on the morning of June 24, but there were no signs of the ex-Wirecard officer in the CCTV of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
“What is really bothersome is the fact that it appeared in the database of BI,” Guevarra told CNN Philippines, adding that Marsalek was reportedly accompanied by his Filipina wife.
“We want to find out exactly if he arrived here or there was only a glitch or something, but there were certain details appearing in the database, like the aircraft that carried him to Manila and his departure from Cebu via specific airline going to China,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra said Marsalek earlier visited the Philippines on March 3 and stayed at a hotel in Makati City until March 5.
The stricken payments provider Wirecard, meanwhile, said it is filing for insolvency days after the high-profile German company admitted that $2.1 billion were missing from its accounts.
“The management board of Wirecard AG has decided today to file an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings for Wirecard AG with the competent district court of Munich due to impending insolvency and over-indebtedness,” the company said in a statement.
Guevarra said the National Bureau of Investigation would coordinate with the Anti-Money Laundering Council in the initial phase of the investigation of the people involved in the Wirecard case.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier said Wirecard’s missing funds did not enter the Philippines’ financial system.
