The documentary film (1x90’) shows how payment firm Wirecard wowed the financial industry with its success — until a tenacious team of Financial Times reporters exposed it as a massive fraud, says the FT.
A tale of dirty tricks and journalism in the era of fake news, continued the publisher, the film is a globetrotting thriller that shows the dark side of the technology boom. It centres on Dan McCrum, who led a team of reporters on a six-year investigation to expose a giant web of deceit and corruption, and the tactics Wirecard used to try to squash the story and discredit the newspaper.
According to the FT, when McCrum received a tip to investigate the hot new tech company regarded as Europe’s answer to PayPal, everything about Wirecard looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up around the world, it was reporting runaway growth and headed up by a CEO channelling Steve Jobs. In just a few short years, the company grew from obscurity to overtake industry giants like Deutsche Bank in the stock market.
But as McCrum scratches at Wirecard’s glossy surface, he finds a story stranger and more dangerous than he could have imagined: a world of porn barons, whistle-blowers, private militias, master criminals, hackers and Russian spies. As this financial thriller unfolds, McCrum is soon in deep and realises that he’s not the only one in pursuit. Shadowy figures are following him through London, powerful lawyers are sending threatening, ominous letters to his editor, and he is named a prime suspect in a criminal investigation. The race to prove his suspicions and clear his name is on.
Worth €24bn at its peak, in June 2020 Wirecard stunned the stock market by crashing into insolvency as a result of the Financial Times' intrepid reporting, with claims against the bankrupt company totalling more than €12bn.
The documentary arrives as a trial is about to begin in Germany of the turtleneck-sporting former CEO Markus Braun. His protege with connections to Russian intelligence, COO Jan Marsalek, remains a fugitive last seen in Moscow.
Dan McCrum said: “It's an incredible story of our age, the kind of case that makes you say: wait a minute, that just can't be true! We hear a lot about dirty money, and this film shows just how dangerous it is when that dirty money comes after you. It’s a privilege to bring it to the screen with Netflix and Passion Pictures, and to share it with a global audience.”
FT editor Roula Khalaf said: “Skandal! lifts the lid on this billion dollar fraud and recognises the tenacious team of FT journalists that helped to uncover the truth about Wirecard. This story underlines why scrutiny of companies by a free press is fundamental and must be protected.”
The FT says that in November 2020, Dan McCrum was awarded the highest prize for investigative journalism in Germany.
Keep up-to-date with publishing news: sign up here for InPubWeekly, our free weekly e-newsletter.
