British businessman arrested on Wirecard-linked fraud charges
A British businessman has been arrested and charged in Singapore with fraud for allegedly instructing a company, with ties to the collapsed Germans payments company Wirecard, to forge a letter according to widespread reports.
James Henry O’Sullivan has been accused of ordering accounting firm Citadelle Corporate Services to fabricate a document, according to the Financial Times.
The letter was addressed to Cardsystems Middle East FZ, a Wirecard subsidiary based in Dubai, and the contents included claims that Citadelle held over $100m in an escrow account.
O’Sullivan, who was arrested on Monday and appeared in court on yesterday, risks a penalty of up to ten years in jail, a fine, or a combination of both, if he is found guilty.
He is also suspected of having several ties to Wirecard, a German payments company which collapsed last year after revealing a £1.7bn hole in its accounts, including with its former chief operating officer, Jan Marsalek, who is now a fugitive.
O’Sullivan worked with Wirecard in at least one partnership in Asia and, according to the Financial Times which disclosed the accounting scandal, was a key player in driving some of the group’s deals. Other firms linked to O’Sullivan were recipients of large loans from Wirecard too.
The British businessman has been remanded for a week at the Central Police Division in Singapore, and his case adjourned until September 8.