After Weigand was arrested in the U.S., a new company based in Montabaur, a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, took over the businessman’s client portfolio. The owner of this company was his younger brother, who had earlier worked for Weigand’s consulting company. It is suspected that he was merely acting as a front man.
When reached for comment, Weigand tells the story rather differently. Via his lawyers, he says that PAYONE had transferred the portfolio to his brother’s company due to “potential reputational risks.” An investigation performed at the time, Weigand claims, revealed that there were “no irregularities” at the merchants. PAYONE opted not to comment on the issue when reached.
Concerning Clues
The question is just how thoroughly PAYONE vetted Weigand’s merchants. The auditors from Mazars did learn that a “risk assessment” had been performed. But a comprehensive examination, “especially from a money laundering perspective,” did not take place, according to Mazars. Despite the fact that payment processors like PAYONE are obliged to proceed with particular caution when it comes to high-risk clients.
After follow-up queries from BaFin, the company made further investigations. According to the auditor report compiled by Mazars, they found that numerous websites showed “demonstrable daily multiple use of a card” – a strong indication that somebody had been wrongfully using the cards. Also of concern: Technical data indicated that some internet sites hadn’t even been visited. “However, transactions for these very websites or merchants were recorded by PAYONE.” What, then, were the payments for? The report provides no answer to that question.
On the whole, the auditors found that PAYONE’s handling of the Weigand portfolio had not been “fully sufficient and appropriate.”
Ruben Weigand says that all services provided were “standard market practice.” He says he had no indication that “systematic criminal transactions” had been processed on behalf of the merchants he had referred to PAYONE.
“Red Flags”
But there are additional indications of compliance problems. Commerzbank, where PAYONE had several accounts, took a closer look at PAYONE’s high-risk business dealings following Weigand’s arrest and came to rather devastating conclusions in 2021.
According to internal bank information, only one or two PAYONE employees were responsible for monitoring potential money laundering despite the company taking care of payment processing for hundreds of high-risk clients. The bank identified several “red flags” indicating that PAYONE was not adequately vetting and monitoring these clients.
Specifically, Commerzbank examined two Cyprus-based companies which, the bank noted, were part of a network “related to a scam.” According to the bank’s findings, customers had to enter their credit card details to receive access, but that data was then used “to charge high fees for a service the customer did not intend to sign up for.”
Thousands of Sex Sites
According to reporting by DER SPIEGEL and its partners, these companies operated porn websites and belonged to the network of Ray Akhavan, who had been convicted in the U.S. together with Ruben Weigand. When contacted, Weigand confirmed that he had referred these clients to PAYONE. In his view, he says, the clients had demonstrated “any irregularities,” according to the guidelines.
At the time, Ray Akhavan ran a franchise system that included thousands of sex sites, earning him the industry moniker “porn baron.” Many of the companies in his group had also worked together with Wirecard. Jan Marsalek would even send him affectionate messages (“Hey my love”). Akhavan occasionally dropped by Wirecard headquarters in Munich to pick up six-figure sums in cash.
Originally from Iran, Akhavan had frequent run-ins with the law, including illegal possession of weapons and drugs. During one search of his home, police found a pistol in his bedroom. Akhavan died of a drug overdose in fall 2024.
PAYONE CEO Niklaus Santschi long played down the problems. In April 2021, he insisted to colleagues that all merchants referred by Ruben Weigand had been vetted. “We are still convinced that the portfolio is clean from a compliance perspective.” Just a few days later, PAYONE parted ways with all of the merchants that Weigand and his brother had brought in.