Scandal-ridden Wirecard's extraordinary rise and fall will be turned into a documentary charting its $2 billion accounting fraud saga

Advertisement
Scandal-ridden Wirecard's extraordinary rise and fall will be turned into a documentary charting its $2 billion accounting fraud saga
Getty
  • Wirecard's accounting fraud that led to its recent downfall will be turned into a documentary, a German media company announced on Thursday.
  • The fintech's extraordinary rise and fall represents one of Germany's biggest economic scandals, but the story is incomplete since much about what actually happened is still unknown.
  • The documentary is scheduled for an early 2021 release under German director Raymond Ley, and producers Nico Hoffman and Marc Lepetit.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Advertisement

Wirecard's massive accounting scandal involving missing billions and multiple arrests of top executives will be turned into a documentary, German broadcaster RTL announced on Thursday.

The fintech's extraordinary rise and fall represents one of Germany's biggest economic scandals, but the story is incomplete since much about what actually happened is still unknown.

Wirecard's documentary-drama is expected to show the circumstances that led to the financial scandal, alongside a history of the company and its executives.

It aims to shed light on what former CEO Markus Braun, CFO Alexander von Knoop, and COO Jan Marsalek knew, what moves they agreed upon, and whether differences among them crept up along the way.

"Bloated balance sheets, missing billions and a top manager on the run: The tremendous rise and almost free fall of the DAX company Wirecard is already one of the biggest economic scandals in Germany — and much is still unresolved," a press release said.

Advertisement

Set for an early 2021 release, the movie is being created by producers Nico Hoffman and Marc Lepetit of German television firm Ufa Fiction. It will be directed by popular German director Raymond Ley.

Read More: RBC lays out 6 trades to make now ahead of a possible Democratic sweep in the elections — and explains why waiting until November is the wrong move

A format of six 45-minute episodes is expected to be developed on the events that follow the scandal. A podcast of the multi-episode true crime series will be available on audionow.de.

"The Wirecard case is business thriller and drama in one. It still requires the full power of journalistic research, because much is still in the dark," Stephan Schafer, a managing director of the media group RTL, said in a statement translated from German.

"At the same time, it is simply perfect narrative."

Advertisement

Here's how Wirecard went from analyst darling to a $2.2 billion accounting scandal - and cost SoftBank hundreds of millions in the process

{{}}