Overview

He was arrested 23 years ago. In May 1995, Germany's most famous building tycoon and fraudster was caught by FBI and BKA investigators in Miami. Jürgen Schneider had been hiding there with his wife Claudia for over 13 months after his flight from Germany triggered the biggest real estate bankruptcy of the post-war period. He left behind debts of over 5 billion Deutschmarks to more than 50 banks. Never before had the banking industry in Germany been so ripped off. But it was not only the banks that were affected, but also many, especially East German craft firms.