Financial Times investigative reporter Dan McCrum was named Press Gazette's journalist of the year at the 2020 British Journalism Awards for his part in the \"brave\" investigation that took down German fintech giant Wirecard.
McCrum and his FT colleagues, who also won investigation of the year, spent a total of six years trying to expose fraud at the company, and along the way faced smears, criminal charges in Germany, threats and intimidation.
The investigation racked up hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal bills for the FT – but the newspaper provided its investigations team with the time and resources to stick with the story despite the cost and risks.
McCrum has now spoken to Press Gazette to mark the release of a new Netflix documentary about the story: Skandal! Bringing Down Wildcard. He spoke about the hardest parts of the story and its personal risks - and why it is so important for the FT and other newspapers to facilitate these major investigations.