The fallout from Wirecard’s collapse continues to widen, with new reporting from Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) and Tagesschau indicating that hundreds of millions of euros routed through Wirecard Bank’s so-called third-party partner accounts can be traced to online gambling mogul and Bitcoin investor Calvin Ayre. These findings add a new dimension to Germany’s largest post-war financial scandal, where the missing EUR1.9 billion in supposed offshore trust accounts has dominated headlines since 2020.

BR analysis uncovers the origins of Wirecard’s third-party funds

Wirecard’s executives, including former CEO Markus Braun, remain on trial in Munich. After around 230 days in court, even Braun’s defense has accepted that the EUR1.9 billion auditors could not verify simply never existed. “At this point, we can no longer dispute that. It’s incontrovertible,” defense lawyer Theres Kraußlach stated.

Separate from the missing trust funds, vast sums also moved through accounts assigned to foreign payment processors—Wirecard’s “third-party acquirers.” Emails from fugitive ex-COO Jan Marsalek, along with Excel files detailing roughly 500,000 transactions in 2018, gave BR an unusually clear picture of these flows. Their analysis revealed that shell companies in Prague, Podgorica and other global hubs transferred multimillion-euro amounts into Wirecard Bank accounts.

An anonymous insider described the accounts as a pipeline for gambling revenue, saying Wirecard acted as a “collection point for these funds, from illegal gambling for example.” Years of follow-up reporting, additional documents and insider interviews ultimately allowed BR to identify a prime beneficiary: Canadian-born gambling tycoon Calvin Ayre, long known for Bodog, early Bitcoin investments and, later, major backing of BSV.

Ayre’s rise, Antigua network and blockchain ventures

Ayre first appeared on Forbes’ cover in 2006, which chronicled how the son of a Canadian pig farmer built a gambling empire. With US restrictions tightening that same year, BR reports that his businesses routed financial flows through Europe while processing betting settlement via Costa Rica. A 2007 “Weltspiegel” broadcast showed him in Costa Rica during a move to Antigua, where he highlighted his influence by saying: “We are already the largest private employer in the entire country, and that gives us a lot of political influence as well.”

He went on to gain Antiguan citizenship and forge ties with finance minister Errol Cort. In 2012, US authorities charged him with illegal gambling and money laundering, seizing USD66 million in customer stakes. He resolved the case in 2017 by pleading guilty to a single count and paying a USD500,000 fine.

Ayre later re-emerged as a major blockchain investor, funnelling hundreds of millions into nChain and supporting Craig Wright, who has claimed since 2016 to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Former nChain CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen says: “I was hired by the owner, Calvin Ayre, as Group CEO at nChain, which at the time was considered one of the most innovative companies in the world,” before resigning and alleging he uncovered “the biggest fraud in history.” In March 2024, the UK High Court ruled that Wright is not Satoshi, issuing a final, globally binding judgment.

Transfers through Wirecard Bank and allegations of a key relationship

BR’s transaction review indicates that around EUR135 million moved from Wirecard Bank to nine Antigua-based companies, most linked to Fitzgerald House at 44 Church Street—also home to Cort & Cort, run by former minister Errol Cort. BR cites an email in which Ayre once described Cort as his “lawyer and best friend.” Ager-Hanssen confirmed that firms at that address belong to Ayre, explaining that Ayre “has a lot of money at his disposal, has enormous cash flow, but has to forward it without ever acting in his own name.”

Additional transfers tied to Ayre’s network included EUR6.6 million to Spanish software company RGT and nearly EUR8 million to Tyche Consulting in Manila, where Wright later worked at a subsidiary. Hong Kong-based Pittodrie Finance Limited received more than EUR177 million. BR reports that these funds also belonged to Ayre and did not originate from genuine Wirecard third-party business, as Braun has claimed.

Ager-Hanssen summarized the relationship between the two sides: “He was the man behind Wirecard. He is the big fish.” Tagesschau separately quoted him saying Ayre “needed Wirecard just as Wirecard needed him,” asserting mutual dependence between the gambling empire and the German processor.

Marsalek, in a 2023 letter to the Munich court, wrote that “de facto a single customer” stood behind the third-party partner business and that he had “restructured a Canadian customer’s corporate legal structures.” Prosecutors have declined to discuss the matter.

EY auditors relied on account statements from Wirecard Bank as evidence of the supposed TPA business, according to the confidential “Wambach Report.” EY maintains it acted appropriately. Kraußlach insists Braun had no knowledge of the arrangements, saying “He himself has essentially become a victim of a crime.”

Ayre, Cort and Antiguan officials did not respond to BR inquiries, and the broadcaster reports it was denied permission to film on Antigua. German authorities have yet to indicate how the newly surfaced material will factor into ongoing proceedings.