Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) — The National Bureau of Investigation recommended falsification and cybercrime charges against a former Transportation official in relation to the $2.1-billion scandal that involved German firm Wirecard AG, the Department of Justice said on Friday.
It said the complaint against former Transportation Undersecretary Mark Tolentino will go through preliminary investigation. The DOJ added that in a related case, two immigration officers believed to have tampered with the travel records of a Wirecard executive were charged with cybercrime and corruption. The cases are pending in court.
In 2020, Tolentino – who owns M.K. Tolentino Law & Business Consultancy Office – was found to be a trustee of Wirecard and was implicated in the financial service provider’s missing $2.1 billion (about ₱107 billion).
Tolentino’s camp said the law firm opened and maintained foreign currency deposit accounts with BDO Unibank and the Bank of the Philippine Islands — a claim that the two banks refuted.
Both banks denied that they held Wirecard money. Tolentino denied holding the missing cash or knowing where the funds were but said the money was probably stashed in a private banking unit of an Asian or European institution, and that he may again be accused of secretly managing the missing funds.
Wirecard saw its stock market value collapse by 90% in the week after the report of the missing funds. Wirecard officials said the money may not have existed after all. The company filed for insolvency last year.
Tolentino was sacked by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018 for pushing for a railway project involving Duterte’s sister.
