Cum-Ex Star Witness Stands Trial Over €428 Million Tax Hit

Kai-Uwe Steck, one of the main collaborators with German prosecutors in their vast Cum-Ex probe, appeared in a Bonn court, charged with involvement in tax schemes costing the country €428 million ($450 million).

The trial was opened on Thursday morning as scheduled, with prosecutors reading 88 pages of the indictment, a spokeswoman for the tribunal said by email.

Kai-Uwe Steck in the courtroom in Bonn, on Nov. 21.

Photographer: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/AP Photo

The 53-year old lawyer once was a key figure in what became a Cum-Ex industry, involving some of the world’s top banks. Steck was a law partner of Hanno Berger, the attorney dubbed “Mastermind” of the strategy ...