Jan Marsalek, former chief operating officer of Wirecard, was added to Interpol’s most wanted list this morning, as the multi-billion euro accounting scandal involving the German payments processor intensifies.

The 40-year-old Austrian national is regarded as a central figure in the alleged accounting scandal.

He disappeared in June, shortly after Markus Braun, the former chief executive of Wirecard, was arrested in Germany on suspicion of falsifying company revenue when auditors uncovered a €1.9 billion black hole in the company’s accounts.

Issuing a ‘red notice’, Interpol said an international manhunt is now underway for the former board member.

Interpol’s listing said he was wanted by authorities for “violation of the German duty on securities act and the securities trading act, criminal breach of trust, especially serious case of fraud”.

A notice issued by German authorities said he was “strongly suspected of having committed billions in commercial gang fraud, the particularly serious case of embezzlement and other property and economic offences”.

The notice was jointly issued by prosecutors in Munich and German federal police, which regard him as one of the chief suspect in the investigation.

Marsalek was dismissed from his role in June after it was found that 80 per cent the company’s declared net cash was missing from its accounts.

According to reports, Marsalek was last sighted in Moscow and is alleged to be under the protection of Russian army intelligence unit the GRU.

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