Germany's tax evasion scandal has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster. Secret bank accounts, spies, a mysterious informant and - of course - the good guys chasing the bad guys.

With an Alpine set thrown in for good measure, and some high-profile casualties, the Liechtenstein tax robbery could be on our screens sooner rather than later.

What happened?

One can easily imagine the plot opening in Liechtenstein, a country that has been dubbed an uncooperative tax haven by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation for its lack of transparency and unwillingness to share banking information.

Wealthy Germans deposit suitcases full of cash there, seemingly safe in the knowledge their own government would never get wind of it.

Since the OECD set up its harmful tax practices project in 1998, many countries have agreed to work with it to reduce tax evasion, but Liechtenstein has so far refused to budge. 'They have shown no signs of wanting to work with us,' said an OECD spokesman.

So Germany took the aggressive step of paying for information that could help them recoup their unpaid taxes. Though some questions were raised about their payment of about €4m (£3.2m) for an electronic list said to contain incriminating evidence on over 1,000 wealthy Germans, the finance ministry said the information was 'definitely worth it'.

Klaus Zumwinkel was the first casualty, resigning from his post as chief executive of Deutsche Post after it emerged he was being investigated for an alleged s1m tax evasion.

What's going to happen?

Political and business leaders in Germany were quick to distance themselves from any of those under investigation, and the German public, who are already critical of 'fat cat' business leaders are unlikely to sympathise with rich people who don't want to pay their fair share of the taxes. Tax evasion is hurting a much greater proportion of the population than it is benefiting.

'We believe it to be a big problem for governments. There are no official figures because by definition tax evasion is a secretive activity, but we know that deposits in offshore accounts run to the trillions,' said the OECD.

The UK has now adopted Germany's aggressive approach, paying £100,000 for the data itself. The outcome of what has been described as Germany's biggest tax probe will also be keenly followed by HM Revenue & Customs and tax authorities worldwide. And by tax evaders too, who'll be worrying they'll land a starring role in this story's sequel.