The fallout from the Wirecard saga is still ongoing with the latest news on the jailing of two more individuals on 6 January 2026 as reported in the Straits Times (the Times).
The two individuals are Singaporean R. Shanmugaratnam (59), who was earlier was sentenced to 10 years’ jail on Jan 6 and Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 51, who had abetted Shanmugaratnam, who was sentenced to 6½ years’ in jail. A district court found them guilty of their charges in September 2025 after a trial.
The Times reports that Shanmugaratnam received a request in February 2016, from auditors Ernst & Young (EY) for an entity that he represented called Citadelle to confirm the balance of all accounts held by Wirecard AG and/or its subsidiaries with Citadelle as of 31 December 2015.
Citadelle allegedly confirmed that it held money in escrow accounts for various Wirecard entities across three financial years, but this was not true.
The bottom line for auditors is that verifying the veracity of bank enquiry responses is absolutely critical on audit assignments and more emphasis needs to be placed on following up incorrect or incomplete responses from financial institutions. The relevant Irish audit standard is ISA 505 (March 2024) from the Irish Auditing & Accounting Supervisory Authority
For audit cold file reviews and tailored training sessions explaining more about various topics like AML, Audit, FRS 102, please send a mail to john@jmcc.ie.
For more on engagement and representation letter templates and a variety of CPD webinars on money laundering and other accounting/audit related topics, please go to our website for:
- Our latest CPD Webinar on The Main Changes in Irish GAAP (recorded July 2024)
- Anti-Money Laundering Policies Controls and Procedures Manual (March 2022) — View the table of contents
- AML Webinar (December 2023) available here, which accompanies the AML Manual. It explains the latest legal AML reporting position for accountancy firms and includes a quiz. Upon completion you receive a CPD certificate for attendance in your inbox.
- Letters of engagement and similar templates—Please visit our website here where immediate downloads are available in Word format. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items bought together.
ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard. We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. Please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
