Mark Tolentino, a Philippine lawyer entangled in Wirecard's multi-billion dollar scandal, disclosed to Reuters that he was shocked to be linked to the German credit card operator and that he was the victim of a "frame-up."
Earlier this week, Wirecard went bankrupt after revealing that there was actually no $2.1 billion in cash in Philippine bank accounts. The disclosure led to Wirecard's former chief executive's arrest and prompted the German authorities to launch an investigation in Brussels, Germany and the Philippines as investigators try to ascertain where the missing funds went.
Tolentino, during a phone interview with Reuters, stated that he opened six bank accounts for a Singapore-headquartered company but had no knowledge until the fraud broke out that the accounts were for Wirecard. Tolentino claimed the accounts never had over a few hundred euros in them.
Tolentino said he wants to clear his name. "It seemed all fingers were pointing to me to be the manipulator of the missing money," he said, stressing that he had been a victim of identity theft and bogus news. The Filipino lawyer refused to provide documents or other proof to show how he had been framed up, Reuters said.
The Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is inviting Tolentino for questioning in connection to Wirecard's missing $2.1 billion, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra disclosed, Friday.
Tolentino was a former assistant secretary in the Philippines Department of Transportation who was fired by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018 for discussing a government project with the president's sister. Tolentino denied discussing a government project with Duterte's sister and that his dismissal was political.
The DOJ secretary said Immigration officials are also being probed in connection with the travel history of Jan Marsalek, Wirecard's chief operating officer, who may have traveled to the Philippines earlier this week.
Tolentino divulged that he opened six euro bank accounts under the name of his law company, MKT Law, at the Bank of the Philippines Islands and Banco de Oro Unibank on behalf of Citadelle Corporate. Based on Singapore company records, Citadelle Corporate is a company headquartered in Singapore.
Tolentino denied holding the missing funds or having any knowledge about where the money is, claiming he was only approached by men early this year and offered to make him a trustee for the shares of a local financial technology firm they will put up, CNN Philippines reported.
Since he left the government, Tolentino has returned to legal practice. He teaches business law at a local Philippine university and describes himself as an experienced litigation and trial attorney on his Facebook page.
