Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard
The documentary 'Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard' on Netflix delves into one of Europe's biggest corporate scandals in recent history - the 2020 collapse of the German payments company Wirecard.
The film focuses in particular on Financial Times journalist Dan McCrum and his team, who spent years investigating Wirecard and exposing extensive accounting fraud. Despite massive counter-campaigns, threats, and attempts to discredit the journalists, they persisted with their investigative work. Their relentless research ultimately revealed that 1.9 billion euros were missing from the company's accounts - money that had simply never existed.
Wirecard had been a darling of the German stock market and was even included in the prestigious DAX index. But behind the facade of innovation and growth lay systematic fraud on a massive scale. CEO Markus Braun was arrested, while top executive Jan Marsalek fled and remains at large to this day.
The documentary offers insight into modern financial crime and shows how thorough investigative journalism can expose even the most sophisticated fraud schemes - even when those in power and regulatory authorities turn a blind eye.
