System Failure: The Cum-Ex Scandal

The film uncovers the biggest tax fraud in history: the Cum-Ex scandal. For years, the multi-billion euro fraud involving banks, investors, and lawyers went unnoticed. Based on investigative journalist Oliver Schröm’s research (The Cum-Ex Files), director Judith Lentze offers a multi-perspective reconstruction, featuring accused individuals, prosecutors, and whistleblowers. The documentary reveals how, since the 1990s, sophisticated share deals enabled systematic tax fraud across Europe, and how brave officials within tax authorities and the judiciary pursued justice despite intimidation and legal pressure. Their perseverance turned the exposure of this white-collar crime into a modern-day hero story—about a scandal that still costs society dearly.