The Cum-Ex deals are recognized as the largest tax fraud in German history, involving banks and investors who manipulated stock transactions to reclaim taxes that were never paid, resulting in an estimated loss of at least ten billion euros to the state.
This staggering financial loss prompted legislative changes in 2012 aimed at preventing such tax fraud schemes in the future.
The scandal traces back to a 2017 indictment that led to the conviction of tax lawyer Hanno Berger, who became known as 'Mr. Cum-Ex' and received a lengthy prison sentence.
Berger was extradited from Switzerland and has been on trial in Wiesbaden since June 2022, where he was sentenced to over eight years in prison for severe tax evasion in May 2023.
Recently, Hesse's prosecutors initiated charges against Berger related to Cum-Ex deals conducted by HypoVereinsbank (HVB) in London, where he is accused of participating in transactions between 2006 and 2008 that cost the state approximately 113 million euros.
Several former HVB employees were implicated in these transactions, highlighting the extensive involvement of the bank in the scandal.
One particular case involves a man who earned significant commissions from earlier Cum-Ex stock transactions related to HVB.
In response to the scandal, policymakers enacted legislative changes to prevent similar tax fraud schemes from occurring in the future.
However, some criminal charges related to this scandal have already expired due to the statute of limitations, with 34 out of more than 130 cases identified as such.
Despite the statute of limitations, prosecutors intend to continue pursuing these 34 cases, although charges against some individuals may need to be dropped.
In a related development, the Hessian judiciary has closed the criminal proceedings against a former stock trader after he paid a monetary settlement of 2.8 million euros.
On February 6, 2025, the Wiesbaden District Court concluded another part of its investigation into the billion-euro Cum-Ex tax scandal.
