FRANKFURT AM MAIN: The founder and chief executive of scandal-hit Wirecard resigned on Friday after the German payments provider was hit with fresh fraud allegations that have left it struggling for survival.

Markus Braun “resigned today with immediate effect”, the firm said in a statement, adding that the decision was made “in mutual consent with the supervisory board”.

The 51-year-old Austrian will be replaced on an interim basis by US manager James Freis.

The bombshell comes a day after auditors from Ernst & Young said 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) were missing from Wirecard’s accounts, intensifying a months-long crisis in the company.

The news prompted investors to abandon the once popular fintech company in droves, sending Wirecard’s share price into a tailspin.

The stock plunged more than 60 percent in Frankfurt on Thursday. By 1330 GMT on Friday, it was trading almost 28 percent lower, at 28.82 euros.

It marks a stunning fall from grace for the Bavarian start-up, set up in 1999 and once seen as a darling of the fintech scene thanks to the global increase in electronic payments.

The firm entered Germany’s prestigious DAX 30 index with great fanfare in 2018 after nudging out traditional lender Commerzbank.

But since then Wirecard has been dogged by a series of articles in the Financial Times alleging accounting irregularities in its Asian operations.

The company’s four board members — including Braun — have been under investigation since early June by Munich prosecutors for “market manipulation”, and Wirecard’s headquarters were searched as part of the probe.—AFP