A former EY partner is reportedly relinquishing his position as Deutsche Bank’s head of accounting temporarily after German prosecutors launched an investigation into his role as a lead auditor for Wirecard, a once-thriving FinTech company currently embroiled in a $2 billion accounting scandal.

Andreas Loetscher, who was one of the lead partners for EY on Wirecard’s audits from 2015-2017, had joined Deutsche Bank in 2018. The announcement that he was stepping aside during the Wirecard/EY investigation was made in an internal memo that was seen by both The Financial Times and Reuters. Compliance Week has requested a copy from Deutsche Bank but has not received a response.

Germany earlier this month opened an investigation into a number of partners at EY who were involved with audits of Wirecard, which have come under scrutiny as the one-time financial payments giant faces allegations ranging from money laundering to falsifying accounts to fraudulently inflating its sales and profits.

Germany’s Auditor Oversight Body in September told German prosecutors EY might have acted criminally in its auditing of Wirecard.

In his memo to staff, Deutsche Bank’s finance chief James von Moltke wrote Loetscher stepping aside was “neither an acknowledgement of wrongdoing by [Loetscher] nor a change of perception on the part of the bank,” according to Reuters.

Brigitte Bomm, global head of tax, replaces Loetscher with immediate effect.

 

Dave Lefort was Managing Director of Compliance Week. Before joining CW, he spent nearly two decades in digital leadership roles with ESPN and The Boston Globe.View full Profile

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