The journalist who took down a billion-dollar company

Lives Less Ordinary

Dan McCrum investigated a story at Wirecard that had him fearing for his safety.

British journalist Dan McCrum usually writes about businesses for the London-based newspaper, the Financial Times. In 2014 he got a tip off alleging there were so-called gangsters behind a much-feted German company called Wirecard. The company had started small, taking care of the technical part of processing online payments. But by the time Dan starting looking into it, it was entering the big league. And what he discovered took him into unchartered territory: of international spies, underworld deals and fraud on a massive scale.

The chief executive Markus Braun was arrested in 2020 and is now on trial in Germany. He denies all charges against him and says he himself was deceived.

At the request of Germany, Interpol issued a red notice for the arrest of Wirecard’s former Chief Operating Officer, Jan Marsalek. He is believed to have fled to Russia.

Dan's written a book about his investigation called Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Jo Impey Editor: Munazza Khan

Get in touch: [e-mail] or WhatsApp: [phone]