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Wirecard: The court wanted to stop the docu-drama - just before the broadcast - RTL showed the film anyway

2021-04-29T13:47:59.964Z


The Munich Higher Regional Court actually prohibited RTL from broadcasting the Wirecard film “The Big Fake”. But the docu-drama ran on Thursday anyway. Now the station threatens a lot of trouble.


The Munich Higher Regional Court actually prohibited RTL from broadcasting the Wirecard film “The Big Fake”.

But the docu-drama ran on Thursday anyway.

Now the station threatens a lot of trouble.

Munich - Wirecard's billion-dollar bankruptcy is one of the biggest scandals in Germany. The story has all the ingredients for a good thriller: The soaring as the darling of the financial markets was followed by a fall into the abyss. Falsified accounts, fraud and numerous surprising twists and turns provide the perfect plot. In addition, the spectacular escape of Jan Marsalek, the lack of 1.9 billion euros and many unresolved questions.

So it was only a matter of time before someone adapted the Wirecard scandal for film and television.

The story didn't make it to Hollywood yet, but RTL was now working on the Wirecard case as a documentary thriller in

"The Big Fake - The Wirecard Story"

.

Christoph Maria-Herbst (known from Stromberg) plays Markus Braun, Franz Hartwig plays Jan Marsalek.

The film premiered on Thursday (April 22nd).

The higher regional court (OLG) Munich had forbidden that, as

FAZ

reported.

Wirecard film: Short-term decision shortly before the start of broadcasting

There were only a few hours until the start of the broadcast when the decision was made in the Munich Higher Regional Court: The judges issued an injunction that the thriller should not be shown. The reason: The docu-drama reports "identifying" about the key witness Oliver B. In addition, he was put in connection with criminally relevant allegations. Specifically, it is about expressing the suspicion that "Wirecard also co-financed child pornography and terrorism." The film portrays it as if the key witness Oliver B. had played a role in it, which amounts to a prejudice.

The decision did not affect the entire film, but only two minutes, as RTL announced at the request of the

FAZ

.

The television broadcaster does not share the judgment of the court.

A prejudice is not evident.

In addition, "at no point was the suspicion expressed that the applicant was supposed to have played a significant role in a criminally relevant manner," the RTL spokeswoman continued.

The broadcaster therefore decided to broadcast it on free TV.

As early as March 31, viewers could stream the film exclusively on the RTL portal TV Now.

Wirecard film: Key witness wants a fine

According to the OLG ruling (Az .: 18 W 638/21), the broadcaster is now threatened with a fine or, alternatively, the management is in detention.

However, the presentation was based on research by numerous journalists, including the

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Capital

and the

Stern

.

The attorney for key witness Oliver B. told

FAZ

that his client would now apply for the fine.

So how things will continue will have to be clarified again by a court.

It could be expensive for RTL.

The broadcaster could hardly have wished for better advertising for the thriller.  

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-04-29

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