Royal Caribbean’s payment vendor Wirecard reports $2.1 billion missing cash
The company that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. uses to process crew payments, Wirecard, said Thursday that auditors cannot locate $2.1 billion in cash on its balance sheet, raising concerns among cruise employees.
The Munich, Germany-based fintech company has been plagued by allegations of financial mismanagement and wrongdoing for the last few years. On Thursday, Wirecard suspended its chief operating officer after announcing the $2.1 billion shortfall.
Crew members who have Wirecard accounts use debit cards to access their Royal Caribbean paychecks and are worried their funds may be affected. Wirecard’s shares plummeted more than 60% Thursday.
Royal Caribbean spokesperson Jonathon Fishman said crew pay is not at risk.
“We are aware of the situation,” Fishman said via email. “We used Wirecard only to provide limited administrative services.”
Fishman declined to confirm what percentage of the company’s crew members are paid using Wirecard. A spokesperson for competitor Carnival Corporation said the company does not do any business with Wirecard. On its website, Wirecard offers cruise companies payment services for passengers as well.
Former Royal Caribbean Cruises crew member Bruno Cruells, 30, who just finished his 14-day COVID-19 quarantine after returning home to Argentina, said he doesn’t know whether he should transfer his money out of the Wirecard account and pay the 30% tax associated with the transfer, or keep the funds where they are. He hasn’t received any direction from Royal Caribbean.
“I’m concerned because I have money there,” he said. “If I know Wirecard is going to crash I would do it [transfer]. I would prefer to have more time.”
If Wirecard does not provide financial statements for 2019 by Friday, loans to the company for more than $2 billion can be terminated, the company said Thursday.
The Financial Times reported last year that Wirecard staff fraudulently inflated sales and profit to mislead auditors at Ernst & Young. Wirecard has denied the allegations.
Fishman did not respond to a question about whether Royal Caribbean was aware of the allegations against Wirecard before Thursday’s announcement about the shortfall.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 7:20 PM.
