Jailed Ex-Wirecard CEO Files Lawsuit Against Chubb to Get D&O Coverage

Markus Braun, the former chief executive officer of scandal-ridden Wirecard AG who has been in jail for almost a year, sued insurance giant Chubb Ltd. to make it pick up his legal bills, people familiar with the case said.

Braun, who is being investigated over Wirecard’s demise, won an initial ruling in January in a Frankfurt court ordering Chubb to cover the costs under so called D&O insurance that his now-defunct employer had bought for top managers, said the people who asked not to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak about the matter.

That ruling was appealed and the outcome of the case is still pending, according the people.

A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt Regional Court confirmed the ruling but declined to name the insurance company. In recent weeks Braun won two additional cases against the company over the issue, she said.

Chubb declined to comment. A spokesman for Braun said he can’t comment on ongoing litigation.

Wirecard collapsed in June last year after saying that 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in cash listed on its accounts probably never existed, sparking a host of probes and a parliamentary inquiry into the country’s biggest-ever corporate scandals. Munich prosecutors are investigating Braun and other former executives for accounting fraud. The former CEO is also being sued by Wirecard investors.

Braun has hired some of Germany’s most expensive lawyers, both on the criminal and the civil side. According to German legal magazine Juve he’s retaining five law firms. He is also asking Chubb to take over fees for a public relations expert he hired as part of his defense strategy.

Top photograph: The Wirecard logo is displayed at the headquarters of the payment service provider in Aschheim, Germany, in this photo taken on June 24, 2020. Photo credit: Sven Hoppe/picture-alliance/dpa via AP, file.

Topics Lawsuits Chubb