A PASAY city court has convicted an immigration officer for falsifying the travel records of Wirecard’s former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, who is wanted by German authorities for a $2.2 billion fraud.
Marcos Nicodemus, supervising immigration officer of the Bureau of Immigration in Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by Branch 111 of the Pasay City RTC on October 9 in two criminal cases for falsification of public documents and for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Nicodemus was sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of nine years for each of the criminal case, with perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
To recall, the National Bureau of Investigation filed the charges against Nicodemus on August 2020 before the Department of Justice for falsifying the travel records of Marsalek.
Marsalek, an Austrian national, is wanted by German authorities for the $2.2 billion fraud involving Wirecard, one of the hottest fintech companies in Europe that collapsed after owing creditors more than $4 billion, which subsequently disclosed disclosing the $2.2 billion hole in its financial accounts.
The missing money was reportedly held in escrow accounts in two Philippine banks, which have denied any links with Wirecard.
Marsalek disappeared after he was charged by German authorities.
The NBI probe revealed that Marsalek arrived in Manila on June 23, 2020 and was processed by immigration Officer (IO) Darren Ilagan but with a mysterious “cancelled by user” remark and departure on June 24, 2020 at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) processed by IO Perry Michael Pancho.
However, the NBI discovered through close circuit television footages that Marsalek never entered the Philippines, and he did not even depart thru MCIA.
The NBI investigation also showed that Marsalek’s records were found to be spurious due to the following: existing immigrations protocol as of that date disallowing passengers in entering Philippine territory due to COVID situation, absence of actual scanned data page of the passport, and existing protocol that incoming flights of airlines disallowing the boarding of a passenger who will be prevented entry based on the destination country’s protocol as of flight date.
