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By Enrico Dela Cruz
MANILA, June 21 (Reuters) - None of the $2.1 billion missing
from scandal-hit German payments firm Wirecard AG WDIG.DE
appears to have entered the Philippine financial system, the
central bank said on Sunday.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said in
a statement the Southeast Asian country's biggest lenders, BDO
Unibank BDO.PS and Bank of the Philippine Islands BPI.PS ,
suffered no losses, despite having been named in connection with
the missing funds.
The chief executive of Wirecard, Markus Braun, who built the
company into one of the hottest financial technology investments
in Europe and a rare tech champion for Germany, quit on Friday
as the company faces a cash crunch after saying it may have been
the victim of fraud.
The search for the missing cash hit a dead end in the
Philippines, but the two Philippine banks have said documents
purporting to show Wirecard had deposited funds with them were
false. "The initial report is that no money entered the Philippines
and that there is no loss to both banks," Diokno said, though he
added that the central bank was investigating.
"The international financial scandal used the names of two
of the country's biggest banks — BDO and BPI — in an attempt to
cover the perpetrators' track," he said.
BDO and BPI have stated that Wirecard was not their client
and that they had no business relationship with the German firm,
Diokno said.
BPI, however, told Reuters on Saturday that it had suspended
an assistant manager whose signature appeared on one of the
fraudulent documents.
BDO told the central bank that it appeared one of its
marketing officers had fabricated a bank certificate.
Diokno reiterated the Philippine banking system was in a
strong position going into the coronavirus pandemic and
well-capitalised.