1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: Jan Marcelek was a model of modern German corporate success. 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 1: It seemed so damned simple for him, young, wealthy, charismatic. 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Did it occur to you that he'd charmed you in 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: any way? Yes? It did that he was a charming man. 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: It turned out he was also a fraudster. Where does 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: the money come from? That was something that I always 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: was questioning myself. Someone living another life. His secret office 8 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: was a lesson for I verund meters down the road. 9 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: I'm Sam Jones and I'm the European security correspondent for 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: the Financial Times. In twenty twenty, my colleagues at the 11 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: FT exposed German financial payments giant WAKAD as a huge 12 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: corporate con But it was also the start of a 13 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: strange and more elusive tale. One cannot work with Macelech. 14 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: He has too close to the rast. 15 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 2: It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story. 16 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 2: Because this ties together the cold or alms the new one. 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: For the last year, I've been pulling together threads from 18 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: the wreckage Jan Marcelect left behind. He disappeared just hours 19 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: before Wakad's final moments and took plundered millions with him. 20 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: I've met people who were drawn into his world. I 21 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: envied Ian so much, only for their lives to be 22 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: turned upside down. 23 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 2: You do start to. 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: Worry what you've sort of brought down on your family. 25 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,839 Speaker 2: I don't know if they've followed me to my home. 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 2: Certain things in my life since then have done terribly wrong. 27 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: Then I think this can't be a coincidence. I've traced 28 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: Marcelet's path from glamorous parties along the Courtezieu with his 29 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: mysterious Russian lover, to the front lines of the War 30 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: on Terror, snapping selfies with Russian mercenaries in Syria and 31 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: Libya of conspiracies aimed at furthering the power of the 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: far right. He definitely has a view that he's operating 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: with complete freedom to do whatever he likes. I've tried 34 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: to understand why mars electrose this path. I think the 35 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: biggest tragedy of Jan Marsalek is. 36 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 2: That he didn't need to be what he turned out 37 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 2: to be. 38 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: What it's all for, I. 39 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 2: Would say that we are actually at the doorstep of 40 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 2: a new ideological war, and people are choosing their sides in. 41 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: This struggle, and who he really is. 42 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 2: I often ask myself, now, did I know the true 43 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 2: Yan at all? 44 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: This is a story about the underside of the law 45 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: abiding world that most of us imagine. We live in, 46 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: a space carved out by crime and corruption, a world 47 00:02:54,600 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: some people find irresistible. It all began with an attempt 48 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: to catch a white collar fraudster, but it ended up 49 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: exposing something more sinister espionage from the Financial Times and 50 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries Hot Money Season three, Agent of Chaos, coming 51 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: June tenth. Listen to Hot Money Agent of Chaos wherever 52 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Subscribe to Pushkin Plus to listen 53 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: to Hot Money Agent of Chaos add free. As a 54 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus subscriber, you'll also get bonus episodes, full audiobooks, 55 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: and binges from your favorite Pushkin hosts and authors. Find 56 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on the Hot Money Show page on Apple Podcasts, 57 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: or at pushkin, dot fm, slash plus.