CumEx as a crime thriller audio book: Squeezing the poor

Years ago, a class from an Italian private school came to visit the taz. As an Italian speaker, I was allowed to tell you something about our little newspaper. In the question and answer session, the teacher wanted to know how we on the left viewed the national debt crisis. As is sometimes the case, I didn't have the presence of mind to question the question itself. I'm still annoyed about that today.

Because I know exactly what I should have answered: that we are not talking about a debt crisis, but rather a revenue crisis, which is caused by parents, like those of the students sitting in front of me, putting their money into private schools instead of paying appropriate taxes so that all children can benefit from such an excellent education. The political discourse is about saving from the already poor and powerless instead of taking money from those who can't get enough.

The writer Oliver Bottini is now focusing on the CumEx scandal in his crime novel “The Sum of All Things”. And a SWR/HR production invites you to continue listening if your eyes close while reading. Financial crimes are rarely the subject of crime statistics, although they are a major concern for the judiciary. This is particularly clear, writes former public prosecutor Anne Brorhilker, who knows something about the matter, "in so-called tax trades, which include CumEx and CumCum transactions. Their profits come solely from tax advantages at the expense of the public purse."

Bottini goes hard with murder and suicide, bringing his characters closer to us. The victims are perpetrators, and the children loved people who did little that was lovable. Which brings us back to our private students, who, if they want to work for a better world, have to start at home. Ambros Waibel

“The Sum of All Things”, 21 episodes on ARD Sounds