Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (S35E15)

Filmmaker Steve James gains close access to Abacus founder Thomas Sung and his family as they fight to save their business and clear their name. They were the only domestic bank to be criminally indicted in the wake of 2008, yet this important story was scarcely known outside New York's Chinatown community. Sung was the model of the American dream. After succeeding as a lawyer, he witnessed bigger banks reject his fellow Chinese immigrants for loans. So he opened Abacus, taking inspiration from Jimmy Stewart's character in It's a Wonderful Life. Like George Bailey, Sung raised a big family. Among his four grown daughters, three went to work for Abacus, including Jill, the bank's chief executive. Another daughter, Chanterelle, worked as an assistant DA, but after her boss brought charges against the family business, she moved to Abacus. (Toronto International Film Festival)