Germany-Owned KfW’s Loan to Wirecard Focus of New Probe, Raids

Germany’s government-owned KfW bank has been drawn deeper into the spiraling Wirecard AG accounting scandal as the payments company’s offices were raided Tuesday over a 100 million-euro ($117.2 million) loan from the bank.

Frankfurt prosecutors said on Tuesday they are looking into whether the loan was granted without getting proper collateral, which could constitute a breach of trust. KfW’s project finance unit KfW Ipex confirmed it was the target of the investigation, adding that it is cooperating with the authorities. Its offices were raided about two weeks ago in the probe, a spokesman said.

Wirecard’s collapse amid an accounting scandal ...