Wirecard says missing $2.1 bln likely doesn't exist

German payments firm Wirecard, once one of the country's most promising tech companies, said on Monday that over $2 billion which went missing from its accounts -- likely never existed in the first place.

Gloria Tso reports.

The German payments firm Wirecard was once one of the country's most promising tech companies.

Then last Friday (June 19) - it was sent into a downward spiral with questions around where over $2 billion dollars of its money went.

On Monday (June 22) Wirecard said that missing money likely never existed in the first place -- a figure that makes up nearly a quarter of its balance sheet.

The firm also said it would be withdrawing its financial results for 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.

It's the latest in a series of scandals that has rocked what was once held up as a home-grown tech success story.

Though it's long been targeted by short sellers questioning its financials.

It's been under scrutiny since last year, when a whistleblower alleged the company owed its success in part to a web of sham transactions.

Chief Executive Markus Braun quit on Friday after the company's search for the missing money hit a dead end in the Philippines.

The Phillipine central bank said none of it appeared to have entered the country after two other Phillipine banks said documents which allegedly showed Wirecard did business with them -- were falsified.

Last week Wirecard said its auditor EY had refused to sign off on its 2019 accounts due to the missing amount.

That left the company scrambling to secure a financial lifeline from its banks.

It suggested Friday it may instead be the victim of quote "fraud of considerable proportions." On Monday it added it is looking at a variety of measures to keep itself afloat, including cost reduction, restructuring, disposal or termination of business units.