The fraud trial of the former head of Wirecard, the German electronic payments company that went from being the darling of Europe’s start-up scene to a spectacular fall that led to changes in Germany’s financial oversight, began on Thursday in Munich.The electric payments company rocketed to fame in the 2010s, rising to become the country’s most valuable financial firm. But two years ago its auditor declared it could not find nearly 1.9 billion euros (about $2 billion) listed on Wirecard’s books, setting off a chain of events that would wipe out more than 20 billion euros, generate arrest warrants for its top executive, and damage the reputation of Germany’s financial regulators who for more than a decade overlo …
