German payroll processor and financial services firm Wirecard today delayed its 2019 financial statements after its auditor, Ernst & Young, said it cannot find sufficient evidence that a supposed 1.8 billion euro ($2.1 billion) balance in various trust accounts actually exists, said MarketWatch. The auditor said there are signs that the trustees provided "spurious balance confirmations" in what is said to be a deliberate attempt to "deceive the auditor" and "create a wrong perception of the existence of such cash balance or the holding of the accounts."

Reuters said that by delaying the 2019 financial statement, the company risks having billions of dollars' worth of loans called in this week. It would be the latest blow against a troubled company that has spent the past few weeks mired in scandal over its accounting practices and the possibility that it may have engaged in direct market manipulation. A previous independent inquiry by KPMG resulted in auditors saying that they could not verify the existence of 1 billion euros in revenue that Wirecard booked through three obscure third-party acquiring partners between 2016 and 2018. Prosecutors have already raided the company's office earlier in the month.

The company said management is working with auditors to clarify the situation. Traders, however, do not appear to be impressed, as its stock has now lost 62 percent of its value as of 12:14 p.m. today.