MANILA, Philippines — The former chief operating officer of Wirecard, Jan Marsalek, returned to the Philippines on June 23 and left for China a day later, according to entries in the central database of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
However, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday said that while records showed that he left the Philippines on June 24 via Cebu International Airport, there is no CCTV footage of him arriving in the country and no record of any flight to China on June 24.
“But CCTV footage does not show him arriving here, and there is no record of any flight to China scheduled in the morning of June 24 from Cebu,” noted Guevarra.
The DOJ chief said an investigation is currently ongoing to determine if the inconsistencies were due to a technical glitch or tampering of records.
“The results of the investigation of the MIS [Management Information System] personnel may lead to various scenarios, including the possibility of employing diversionary tactics to mislead Marsalek’s pursuers,” Guevarra said.
Earlier, Guevarra said Marsalek was in the country last March 3, stayed in Makati, and left on March 5.
What is bothering though, he said, is the June 23 entry because he arrived in the country on that date but left a day later for China.
“It does not seem that this is a case of mere transitting because he left the following day. If that was the case of a mere transferring from one flight to another, there would be no more record in the BI anymore because he would not have to enter the Immigration area,” he said in another interview over CNN Philippines.
Wirecard, a German fintech firm, is mired in large-scale financial controversy following the discovery of accounting irregularities about a missing US$2.1-billion fund.