26. Wirecard
Year: 2020
Approx. Amount: $2.14 billion*
Company / Person Involved: Markus Braun
There’s no scandal quite like a good old-fashioned accounting scandal. The Wirecard scandal was a group of accounting malpractices that resulted in Wirecard, a payment processing company founded in Germany, becoming insolvent.
Wirecard @Quicktake / Twitter.com
Before the scandal, Wirecard offered its customers risk management and financial services. Then, allegations erupted in the late 2010s that the higher-ups had been fudging the numbers. Over $2 billion went “missing,” something that Wirecard’s longtime auditors, Ernst & Young, seemed to miss. Markus Braun, the CEO of Wirecard, was fired and criminally charged for the scandal, and he then escaped to Belarus. He is now on Interpol’s “Most Wanted” list, and he’s still on the run, likely with $2 billion helping him escape.