Syed Rahman shares his thoughts on the arrest of the alleged architect of Cum-Ex

Rahman Ravelli’s Syed Rahman was asked by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) for his opinion on the arrest of the man believed to be behind Cum-Ex.

The German tax attorney Hanno Berger is thought by many to be the person who devised the share selling practice known as Cum-Ex. He was arrested by Swiss authorities on an extradition warrant.

Syed said to OCCRP that he expects most suspects in Cum-Ex investigations to challenge the allegations against them and say that they did not break the law. He anticipates that they will argue that they are not guilty of wrongdoing as they simply took advantage of a legal loophole.

Cum-Ex has sparked a large number of lengthy, cross-border investigations and has cost treasuries across the continent an estimated 55 billion euros. It involved the buying and selling of shares in a way that enabled more than one party to claim tax rebates.

The practice was carried out from the turn of the century until 2012, when Germany changed the law to prevent it continuing.

Syed's article featured on Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).