BANKHAUS

Anulka Lorenzini is head of the Wealth Management Division at Bankhaus Finsler, a private bank in Zurich. Her clients represent, in part, a world of hidden, ill-gotten money. Her secret contempt for that dark underbelly of the banking business trumps her attempts to remain what she is to the outside world, a well-respected banker. She falls hard for Giovanni Poggio, who, using her deeply-anchored contempt, convinces her to facilitate the embezzlement of 14.5 million Euros at her bank. His plan: A false client will periodically withdraw cash from a real client's account. Sixty percent of the money taken will be hers. Months later, seeing the inherent brittleness of her decision, she stops everything. While funds totaling 13.3 million Euros have already been withdrawn, her Italian partners want their remaining share, murdering her new lover to increase the pressure. Struggling to end her nightmare, Anulka decides to initiate a second round of embezzlement. Its success depends upon her involving Felix Hofmaier, a Frankfurt management consultant facing possible criminal charges--and financial ruin--for defrauding the bank of one of his clients. Anulka proposes a payment plan to her Italian partners. They in turn increase their demands, threatening to kill her if she doesn't perform. Incensed by their callousness and greed, she gives her dark side full rein, plunging herself into a deadly dance of betrayal, deceit, and retribution.