Elfriede Sixt under bad light as fraud allegations against Wirecard birth suspicions
by Gianluigi D
Just when they thought the storm had calmed, Wirecard took another blow—this time from the investor protection association “European Funds Recovery Initiative” (EFRI). The EFRI, who claims to represent the 780 victims of fraudulent online trading websites who are said to have suffered a total damage of 28 million Euros, made serious allegations against Wirecard for “financial transfers in connection with allegedly fraudulent online trading websites as well as illegal online gambling websites on a considerable scale.” However, the tables turn as EFRI boss, Elfriede Sixt, and her business partner Werner Böhm are now under observation after research uncovers their past involvements with fraud.
In 2017, a Canadian court ruled that Böhm illegally transferred $561,373 to a private company as a board member of BitRush. Business Insider says, “Böhm let the money flow out over several months and transferred it to a smaller company that belonged to him himself. Repeated requests to transfer the money back to BitRush were therefore ignored.” According to court judgement, Elfriede Sixt is said to have been fully informed about this entire occurrence. However, when asked at EFRI, Sixt denied Böhm’s authorization to sign for the BitRush company. “He couldn’t make any money disappear,” said Sixt. “If you read the judgment carefully, you will see that Böhm did not recognize the Canadian jurisdiction, so he did not defend himself. The judge ruled entirely in accordance with the plaintiffs’ allegations,” added the EFRI boss.
Sixt continued to deny fraudulent claims against Böhm. When asked about the case on the falsification of balance sheets that led to a €7,000 fine, she said, “Böhm was not convicted of falsifying the balance sheet. The diversion, which was pronounced by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court at the time, has a completely different background, but does not constitute a guilty verdict.” She, however, failed to give any more details.
The irony continued as EFRI also accused Wirecard of having worked with the illegal online gambling provider Option888, a subsidiary of a company Böhm wanted to do business with while still boss at BitRush. Böhm can be quoted in a press release: “The partnership with Sheltyco is probably the most important step for BitRush to capture significant market shares in the field of payment services.” Regardless, Sixt affirmed that Böhm never wanted to do business with the parent company of Option888. Quite the opposite: precisely because he did not want to do business like this, he even lost his position as managing director at Bitrush,” claimed Sixt. Such contradictions have led to the redirection of the spotlight. Observers of the dispute between EFRI and Wirecard were puzzled by Sixt and Böhm’s offensive actions against Wirecard. In the industry, it is said that Sixt and Böhm could possibly be involved in one way or another in the options business—that is, bet against Wirecard and earn money when prices fall.
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