Wirecard trial's key witness released from custody after 3.5 years

The key prosecution witness in Germany's sprawling fraud trial of disgraced payments group Wirecard has been released from custody after more than three and a half years.

A Munich regional court suspended the arrest warrant for Oliver Bellenhaus, subject to strict conditions, a judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday. He had worked for Wirecard in Dubai until 2020,

Bellenhaus returned to his native Germany to face justice in the summer of 2020, after the stunning collapse of the former blue-chip firm. The Munich public prosecutor's office had him quickly arrested.

Since December 2022, Bellenhaus has been on trial together with former Wirecard chief executive Markus Braun and the former chief accountant, the latter of whom was released from custody before the trial began.

The prosecution accuses the three managers, together with several other accomplices, of inventing sham balance sheets that showed made up transactions worth billions.

Prosecutors estimate the damage to lenders at over €3 billion ($3.2 billion), which would be the largest fraud trial in Germany since 1945.

The prosecution is basing its case largely on Bellenhaus' testimony.

He became the prosecution's chief witness after he was the only one of the three defendants to admit wrongdoing.

He confessed to falsifying contracts, documents and business figures and pointed the finger at his boss, describing Braun as an all-dominant boss who was fully involved in the fraud.

Bellenhaus must submit a confirmation of residence to the court within one week and hand over all identification documents to the public prosecutor's office.

The chamber has also banned him from contacting co-defendants and potential witnesses.

This means that Braun is the only one of the three defendants to remain behind bars. He has been in custody for three and a half years on remand.

Braun rejects the accusations and his lawyers accuse Bellenhaus of lying.