For the Cum-Ex community, the thousands of bankers, traders and lawyers embroiled in one of Europe’s biggest tax scandals, the start of 2024 hit hard. In a single week, three courts in Germany and Denmark handed down tough rulings: On a Tuesday, a former Freshfields tax attorney was sentenced to three-and-a-half years. Two days later, two asset managers received almost five years and three-and-a-half years, respectively. The week ended with a six-year term for a former trader.

Last year concluded in a similar manner: in November, a Frankfurt court sentenced a former Fortis banker to three years and three months. In the city of Bonn, judges handed down a four year sentence to a former trader at M.M. Warburg, while a second Warburg banker received a suspended term. And Denmark finally succeeded in extraditing Sanjay Shah, dubbed the mastermind of Denmark’s scam, from Dubai – the country where many Cum-Ex traders had set up shop. His trial is scheduled to start Feb. 29.