Der Tag an dem ich Cum/Ex verstand

The biggest tax fraud in the history of the German Federal Republic was discovered at a kitchen table in an apartment in Cologne. For decades bankers, advisers and investors had been helping themselves to our taxes. The scale of the fraud is estimated at between 35 and 40 billion Euro. It could quite possibly still be going on unhindered if a file had not landed on the kitchen table of public prosecutor Anne Brorhilker in the summer of 2013. Traudl Bünger and Calle Fuhr tell of an unprecedented investigation in 14 countries, the attitude of lawyers in bespoke suits, David versus Goliath, the omnipresent patriarchy (and how to take it for a ride), structural insanity ranging from GDPR to feeble inkjet printers and a belief in justice. They present the portrait of a business that long ago lost any sense of proportion or moral compass. And of a state that trips itself up in its pursuit of financial crime. And finally, DER TAG, AN DEM ICH CUM/EX VERSTAND (“The Day I understood Cum/Ex”) tells the story of us, the people who were cheated. Of our money. And that we will not give up hope that David has a chance against Goliath. And that one state prosecutor on her own can make a difference.