1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: Previously on Hot Money. 2 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 2: I felt I'd met somebody who was very controlled and confident, 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 2: who was almost certainly corrupt. I basically said, can we 4 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 2: do that again? 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 3: My first thing is I sort of go home and 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 3: obsessively change every single one of my passwords, start checking 7 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 3: all the security on my house. You do start to 8 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 3: worry what you've sort of brought down on your family. 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 2: We already knew that there was a big vienna angle 10 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 2: to all this, we just didn't know what the angle was. 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: I remember thinking you were mad. I just thought, okay, 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: all right, I'm just going to go to Austria and 13 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: start talking to people about our mar select. But you 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: know you were right. Julian Hessenthyler races from one supermarket 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: to another. He's sweating. It's not just the heat. He's nervous. 16 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: He's hosting an important gathering tonight and everything needs to 17 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: be just right, including the drinks. 18 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 4: Which everybody thinks super easy. But just go to supermarket 19 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 4: by drinks. I was expecting it to be certain. I mean, 20 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 4: you can get anything, any high class drink you want. 21 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 4: It was actually quite difficult. 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: Julian's from Austria, but right now he's on the Spanish 23 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: island of Ibitha. He's looking for a particular type of 24 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: champagne armand de Brignac. Jay Z owns the brand. It's 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: a couve that starts at three hundred pounds a pop. 26 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: Julian knows it's the favorite of one of tonight's most 27 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: important guests, but it seems to be too exclusive even 28 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: for this global party hub, and he can't find it. 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: He settles for Verdua, the priciest he can get in 30 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: this shop. He pays for the drinks from a huge 31 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: wad of bills in his pocket and lugs them out 32 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: to the car. He's driving, a BMW convertible. He can't 33 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: afford it, but he needs to keep up appearances. He 34 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: winces as he heads back along a bumpy track. 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 4: And I remember driving over there all the time, hitting 36 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 4: the bottom of the carent thing. It demageing these guys 37 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 4: so bad. 38 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: Back at the villa he's rented for the party, he 39 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: puts the drinks in the fridge and then jumps in 40 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: the pool to cool down and calm his nerves. He 41 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: showers and dresses for the evening. Then Julian does one 42 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: final check of the cameras He's hidden around the property. 43 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: They're in light switches, phone charges, and coffee cups. There's 44 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: one tucked into a beach bag by the pool. He 45 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: waits for his guests to arrive. Julian is a private investigator. 46 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: Back then, he was thirty six years old. He didn't 47 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: know it at the time, but that day, that party 48 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: was the beginning of a huge scandal that would change 49 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: his life forever. I'm Sam Jones, a journalist with the 50 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: Financial Times. In May twenty nineteen, I arrived in Vienna 51 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: with a request from my old editor Paul Murphy, to 52 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: look for any information I could find about Yan Marcelek, 53 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: a globe trotting international businessman, a billion dollar fraudster, and 54 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: someone who had revealed to us that these two things 55 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: might actually be the least interesting things about him. As 56 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: I touched down in Austria, a political scandal exploded, precipitated 57 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: by the video footage that Julian would film in that 58 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: Abethan villa. It was chaos, and I was barely able 59 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: to think about Marcelek. No one I spoke to knew him, 60 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: and no one in Austria even seemed to have heard 61 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: of wirecard. But as it turned out this scandal, the 62 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: scandal I'm going to tell you about in this episode. 63 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: It would lead me to understand who yan Marslek really 64 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: was and what he was doing, because the Abithra affair 65 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: would reveal a world that invites people like yan Marcelek, 66 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: in a world in which people like him can thrive, 67 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: a world of corruption and patronage. By stories. They often 68 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: tell us as much about ourselves as they do about 69 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: a rogue individual. They're a dark mirror on the failings 70 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: of our own politics, our own societies. Julian's video would 71 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: force the issue of Russian influence in Central Europe out 72 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: into the open. It would show me a cast of 73 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: characters who'd been operating in the shadows and begin to 74 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: reveal how Jan Marselek moved among them. From the Financial 75 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: Times and Pushkin Industries. This is Hot Money, Season three, 76 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: Agent of Chaos, Episode two, The Friendship Society. For Julian, 77 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: the whole thing started with a drinking buddy, a lawyer friend. 78 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: One time after a few vodkas, this lawyer tells Julian 79 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: about one of his clients. The client, he says, has 80 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: evidence of something big, scandalous, rampant corruption at the very 81 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: top of one of Austria's biggest political parties, the Freedom Party. 82 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: The lawyer asks Julian for advice on how he can 83 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,160 Speaker 1: help his client to prove it. 84 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 4: Basically told him, Luke might be possible to do it. 85 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 4: I cannot say, but it's gonna take a budget. These 86 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 4: kind of things all happen like on the fly. This 87 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 4: needs to be blended, it needs to be paid for it. 88 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 4: And to my big surprise, sometime later there again he 89 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 4: came back and asked how much money that would be 90 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 4: on it. Oh, I told him I think thirty or 91 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 4: forty thousand ears for the start and see where we 92 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 4: go from there. Ant he came and put the money 93 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 4: down on the table a few days later. 94 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: The Freedom Party is not a new force in Austrian politics, 95 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: but it is radical, fiercely anti immigration. Its supporters are 96 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: a hotchpotch united in their opposition to the Austrian establishment. 97 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: Some are old school anti clerical liberals, some are nationalists, 98 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: some the Nazis, most are just fed up. It's not 99 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: long before Julian finds himself on the top floor of 100 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: one of Vienna's most exclusive hotels, the Grand Hotel Vien. 101 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,160 Speaker 1: I'm afraid this is going to be a bit of 102 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: a recurrence in this tale, these kind of venues. But 103 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: then that's the great irony of hotels. Sleep is always 104 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: the least interesting thing that happens in them. Julian's in 105 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 1: a private dining room called the rotunda. 106 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 4: It's like out of the Mafia movie. So it's a 107 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,559 Speaker 4: round room with a round table inside, and on the 108 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 4: ceiling you have a fresco. It really looks like out 109 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:36,039 Speaker 4: of Scarfish. 110 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: It's an intimate gathering. 111 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 4: I took on a row as some sort of a 112 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 4: concilierre if you want somebody who gives advice translates. 113 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: He's made sure to set up a hidden video camera 114 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: in case he gets anything incriminating that he can share 115 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: with his lawyer friend. The guest of honor is a 116 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: prominent politician from the Freedom Party, Johann Goudenos. He's hung, 117 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: he's handsome, tall, athletic, and a bit of a party boy. 118 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: That's his reputation anyway. Good Danas is officially the deputy 119 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: mayor of Vienna, but he's also seen by many as 120 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: one of the most influential figures in populist politics. What 121 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: Goodanas is most known for in political circles, though, is 122 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: his affinity for all things Russian. He studied in Moscow. 123 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: He's a fluent speaker, and at the Grand Hotel he's 124 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: making small talk in Russian with one of the other 125 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: dinner guests, a woman who was introduced to him as 126 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: the niece of a prominent Russian oligarch. 127 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 4: And so the story that we presented was, Okay, we 128 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 4: have the niece here of this certain oligarch, and she 129 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 4: has about three hundred and fifty million euros that need 130 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 4: to move. We need a way to wash, transfer and 131 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 4: clean this money and invest it. And for all that 132 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:56,239 Speaker 4: we're looking for friends. 133 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: The thing is the Russian oligarch's niece. She's not a 134 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: Russian oligarch's niece. She's Julian's friend. To help her play 135 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: the part, he's hard bodyguards. She arrived in a Maybach 136 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: at top of the range ultra luxury Mercedes that costs 137 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: more than the house. 138 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 4: The dinner was like four thousand euros because he was 139 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 4: like private dinner room. And then drinks were for sure 140 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 4: running up to ten fifteen k that night because everybody 141 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 4: was drinking heavily. 142 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: These expensive details, though they're not trivial they're what's going 143 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: to convince Goodanas that this woman is the real deal. 144 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: And it works. 145 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 4: So mister Goods within two hours was talking very openly 146 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 4: about certain corruptive steps he was willing to take, and 147 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 4: certain things he was willing to offer in certain contacts 148 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 4: he was willing to provide. 149 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: It's late and the evening draws to a close. Julian 150 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: is convinced it's been a success, but then he discovers 151 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 1: a problem. 152 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 4: I'd never worked with video equipment before, and I had 153 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 4: obviously fucked it up quite well because I had forgotten 154 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 4: to put the SD cards, saved the memory cards, so 155 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 4: there was no material. Actually, so there was evening went 156 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 4: very great, but we just didn't have any material. 157 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: He'd fallen into the trap completely. But actually you couldn't 158 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,679 Speaker 1: prove any of this. But things don't end there, in 159 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,719 Speaker 1: part because Julian likes a challenge and thinks that it 160 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: might still be possible to pull this off. But also 161 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: Goodanas won't let it go either. He keeps badgering Julian 162 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: about this Oligarch's niece, would she, for example, be interested 163 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: in buying some of his land at a vastly inflated 164 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: price of course, what else can he help her with 165 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: in Austria and what might she be able to do 166 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: for the Freedom Party. Goodanas has one particularly striking idea. 167 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 4: He says to her, if you've got that much money 168 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,079 Speaker 4: and you're looking to invest, why don't you buy the 169 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 4: Croll a newspaper for us. 170 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: Llan Zong is Austria's biggest newspaper, a tabloid read daily 171 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: by nearly a quarter of the population. It would be 172 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: a hugely influential platform for the Freedom Party. 173 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 4: And he didn't all back why he was interested in that, 174 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 4: because he said to me, if you do that for us, 175 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 4: and you help us with the elections, we can do everything. 176 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 4: I told him. Look all good, but this kind of 177 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 4: stuff we need to sit with the boss. 178 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 1: Julian tells good Danos that to make this deal happen, 179 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: he needs to meet with the leader of the party, 180 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: and pretty soon he gets a reply invitation accepted, and 181 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: so Take two begins. When Julian begins to put his 182 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: new plan together, he's only half expecting it will actually 183 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: go anywhere. He's pretty sure that now he moved up 184 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: the food chain with an attempt to get to the 185 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: actual leader of the Freedom Party, someone at some point 186 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: is going to do their research and rumble him. 187 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 4: What was driving you? So at first when I started, 188 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 4: I thought, okay, this is not going to go really 189 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 4: nowhere much Then it was more like curiosity to a 190 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 4: degree that was all the time just going further to 191 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 4: see where the point was. When they would say, okay, 192 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 4: look I'll find out, but show some idy, let's do 193 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 4: it background check, meet with our security guy someding. 194 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: But it doesn't happen, and without resistance, Julian finds that 195 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: the mad cap plan he's cooking up it becomes a reality, 196 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: and so that's how he ends up in a high 197 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: stake sting to entrap the boss. The man who Party 198 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: Boy Johann Goodana's answers to the leader of the Freedom Party, 199 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: Heinz Christian Stracher Stroka is a radical, but he's also 200 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: hugely popular. No Austrian politician has as many followers online 201 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: these days. They call themselves Team Hasse Heinz Christian, so 202 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 1: going after him it's no small deal. Gourdanas has by 203 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: this point suggested to the oligarch's niece that she buys 204 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: the country's biggest newspaper to help the party win upcoming 205 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: elections in return for political favors. Julian's plan is to 206 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: draw Struca into this notion too, and expose his willingness 207 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: to be corrupted. What surprises Julian is just how quickly 208 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: Struka says yes to the invitation. It has Julian wondering 209 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: if he's got this far already, how far might others 210 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: with much greater resources and fewer scruples have got hostile 211 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: foreign countries? 212 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 4: For example, So if I'm sitting here now after a 213 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 4: few weeks, were state actistic and what does that mean 214 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 4: for the country I was born in? So I cannot 215 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 4: even explain that fully. But it was just like a 216 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,560 Speaker 4: feeling of that's just too much. I think that's the 217 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 4: best way to put It's just too much. I know 218 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 4: politics is corrupt, I know everything. I know that, I 219 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 4: know that I believe to know that, but this is 220 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 4: too much. 221 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: It's no coincidence that this tale is going to loop 222 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: back to jan Marcelek. Corruption isn't just the mood music 223 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: in this whole series. It's the air that these characters breathe. 224 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: It's July twenty seventeen when Julian tries again. He's on 225 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 1: Abitha and he's just got back from that shopping trip. 226 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: The champagne is on ice. He and the Russian oligarch's 227 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: niece are on the terrace of a rented villa waiting 228 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: for their guests to arrive, psyching themselves up this villa. 229 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: It's pretty luxurious by any normal standard, but it's on Airbnb, 230 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: and for that reason, Julian is a little nervous. Billionaires 231 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: do not use Airbnb. The cover story he's prepared is 232 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: that his client wouldn't be seen dead inviting people like 233 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: Struka and Gourdanas to her real home on the island 234 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: where her young family is. The whole thing is taking 235 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: place on Abeitha for a reason. It's an open secret 236 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: in Viennese political circles that every year Strucker and a 237 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: bunch of acolytes head to the island to let loose. 238 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: Julian has brought in professional help for the technical side 239 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: of things. He's not going to mess up the recording 240 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: a second time. There will be memory cards. The whole 241 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: villa is rigged. There's a camera hidden in a phone 242 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: charging station on a sideboard in a living room, another 243 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: in a fake light switch taped to the wall. There 244 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: are even cameras in the lid of a Starbucks coffee 245 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: cup and in a small clock positioned on the kitchen counter. 246 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: What we know about what happened that day? It all 247 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: comes from Julian and the hours of tape and video 248 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: from the villa. Struka arrives with Gourdanus, who has brought 249 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: his wife Tayana. She's Serbian and another fluent Russian speaker. 250 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: Introductions are made. Julian explains his role as a fixer 251 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: and introduces his supposed client, the niece. 252 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 4: We're just drinking some wine and testing each other. I 253 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 4: guess mister Straka was asking, okay, what you do or 254 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 4: is she from? 255 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: Dinner is served in the garden Julian has ordered in 256 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: trays of high end sushi. He and the oligarch's niece 257 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: begin to work in their talking points as the conversation flows. 258 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: They have a list of incriminating requests for Straka that 259 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: they plan on floating with him in return for buying 260 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: Austria's most influential paper. 261 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 4: The main things we had said, we want you to 262 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 4: change the laws or drinking water resources can be privatized. 263 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 4: We told them we want contracts for the upkeep of 264 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 4: military installations. We want airport contracts, we want tell the communications, 265 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 4: so anything. A state actor would have an interest in 266 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 4: getting his fingers. 267 00:15:49,720 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: Into into a long evening, and it's getting chilly outside, 268 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: so they move into the sitting room of the villa. 269 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: In the footage from the secret recording that day, you 270 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: can see Strucker sprawled on the sofa, the Oligarch's niece 271 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 1: next to him, Goodanus is translating from German to Russian. 272 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: There are empty bottles on the table. The sound is 273 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: kind of rough, but if you listen carefully you can 274 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: hear the conversation rambling over Austrian politics, the crimes of 275 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: the Freedom Party's enemies, and their plans to win influence 276 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: in the media. Goodanus and Struka they're drinking quite a lot, 277 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: which probably helps because at two points things very nearly 278 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: come off the rails. The Oligarch's niece is getting fed up. 279 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: This is not what she signed up for. She's doing 280 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: the whole thing as a favor for Julian, but it's 281 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: taking a toll. She's an actress, not an actual spy. 282 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: She hates these people, and her mask is beginning to slip. 283 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 4: She was really being impolite he says, Okay, if you 284 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 4: buy me this newspaper, I'm gonna be the next chancellor. 285 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 4: And she looks him dead in the eye and tells him, 286 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 4: I also want to be a cosmonaut. But you're just 287 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:09,199 Speaker 4: an idiot. 288 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 5: And I mean. 289 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 4: Were you were? You were in the room, Yeah, was 290 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 4: in the room. 291 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: What was going through your head? 292 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 4: So she was talking Russian to mister Goods are translating. 293 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 4: So the point is mister Shaker obviously didn't understand what 294 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 4: mister Goodenos understands perfectly well what she said, he just 295 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 4: doesn't translate it. 296 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: Kudenius's wife is also an unexpected complication. At one point, 297 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: she gazes directly into one of the hidden cameras as 298 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: if she's seen it, and then she asks this question, 299 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: how are you're not sure there's not a trap? 300 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 4: And mister Shacker went into it. He was like, yeah, 301 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 4: it's so strange that he came up with some strange 302 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 4: reasons because the toenails of the Oligard Snieze were supposedly 303 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 4: not in the in the condition word he would expect 304 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:59,360 Speaker 4: from her Oligard Sniez or whatever. So in any case, 305 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 4: he was like, yeah, that's strange, and what's the Godos 306 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 4: actually lied to him, so he actually told him, no, no, 307 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 4: this is not a trap. We've known each other for 308 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 4: a long time. 309 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: Of course, Goodanas hasn't known the niece very long at all. 310 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: They've barely spent more than an evening in each other's company. 311 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: But already Goodanas is so invested in this fiction. He's 312 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 1: excited by what this deal with the oligarch's niece could 313 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: do for the Freedom Party and for him. He's ventured 314 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: his reputation as the party's point man for Russia on it, 315 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,160 Speaker 1: and now he's got his boss involved as a result. 316 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: He's the perfect unwitting ally in the deception. Julian realizes 317 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 1: all the same he needs to increase the pressure, so 318 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: he takes struck at aside and confronts him. 319 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 4: We came here because we understood you're serious about this. 320 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 4: Now we need to talk about this because it's clear 321 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 4: we're not going to get contracts from you, and I 322 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 4: think you're smart enough to understand that we're not going 323 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 4: to invest in a fifty million just for you to 324 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,239 Speaker 4: tell us Yeah, when that happens, we'll see how what 325 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,920 Speaker 4: we can get to, because that's not how things work. 326 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 4: So We're going to need an agreement here. The agreement 327 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 4: needs to be clear cut. 328 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,440 Speaker 1: Straker says he gets it, but he's still being evasive. 329 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: He says he wants to find a legal solution to 330 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: gloss this relationship. 331 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 4: It's like me going to rob a bank and telling them, look, 332 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 4: give me all your money, but just so we both 333 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 4: understand each other. This is not a robbery. 334 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: By now, the sitting room is looking less Djestif's with 335 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: a billionaire and more belaric lads on the lash. People 336 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: are switching between languages, and Julian is worried about whether 337 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: they're actually going to get incriminating material at all. He 338 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: doesn't know, of course, just what has been caught by 339 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: the different cameras around the villa. It's only later, after 340 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 1: reviewing hours of tape that he hears the moment the 341 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: bit he needs, and it comes right Strucka is leaving 342 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: the villa and he turns around. 343 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 4: He was already outside the door in the garden. He 344 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,360 Speaker 4: turns around and cast to mister gordenials and tells him 345 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,440 Speaker 4: go back and settle it now. Mister Gordenos goes back 346 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:15,159 Speaker 4: and there she's alone with the oligardsnies in the kitchen 347 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 4: and that's awesome video. And he says he's trying to whisper, 348 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 4: but it's the camera was quite near so you can hear. 349 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 4: And he says, look, he's ready to do whatever you want. 350 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 4: Just he cannot say do you understand? And she tells 351 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 4: him I understand, But does he understand that even for me, 352 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 4: this is a very risky move and he says, yes, yes, 353 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 4: we're willing to do everything. I promise you. 354 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 1: This final few seconds of footage is the match that 355 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: will ignite a political bomb and end up putting me 356 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:49,919 Speaker 1: in front of the people who are the key to 357 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: understanding Yan Marcelect's other life. Three months after the Abetha operation, 358 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: something happens which really changes the whole nature of the 359 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:02,440 Speaker 1: material that Julian has on tape. The Freedom Party does 360 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: better than expected in the elections. They get brought into government. 361 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: Heinz Christian Straka. He becomes the Vice Chancellor, the second 362 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: most powerful man in Austria. Julian has to be very 363 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: careful who he talks to, and over the span of 364 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: about a year and a half he begins to crack. 365 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 4: This time feeling completely alone in the world carrying a 366 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 4: weight you don't you cannot even really carry as much, 367 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 4: too heavy for you, and not having no where to 368 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 4: turn lord, having no one to take the load off 369 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 4: of you. That's psychologically incredibly straighty. Where I was really 370 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 4: blocking myself in at home, drinking myself to sleep, hating 371 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 4: myself for having touched it. 372 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: Secrets can have a hugely corrosive power. For some people, 373 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: the radioactivity is what they enjoy most, but for others 374 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: it can be unbearable. Julian tries to get on with 375 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: his life, but he can't. Knowing what he knows, he 376 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: begins to talk to two newspapers very tentatively about making 377 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,399 Speaker 1: the video public. He knows that in doing so he 378 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: will probably get outed. There are many people in Austrian 379 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,879 Speaker 1: politics in the media who still believe Julian embarked on 380 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: this project for commercial gain, but Julian says that's not 381 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:23,840 Speaker 1: the case. 382 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 4: You never tried to sell the video. No, I never 383 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 4: tried to sell the video. 384 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: Jan Maselek wasn't directly involved in the Abitha scandal, but 385 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: he's all around the edges of it. Julian remembers one 386 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: uncomfortable coincidence after that night in Abetha, but before the 387 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,199 Speaker 1: video became public, an unexpected encounter on a plane. 388 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 4: I was flying out of Moscow and all of a sudden, 389 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,760 Speaker 4: mister Gudenos pops up and drops in a suit beside me, like, hey, 390 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 4: way doing here? Piously? It was not what I expected 391 00:22:59,160 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 4: or wanted. 392 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,959 Speaker 1: It that I am since he'd got the evidence he needed. 393 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: Julian had been trying to distance himself from Struka and Goudenas, 394 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: so this was the last thing he wanted. But Goudanas 395 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about someone he'd just met and had 396 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: been really impressed by. 397 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 4: He told me, yeah, that's a great time. 398 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 6: You though I wasn't a party on a yacht jach Moscow. Yeah, 399 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 6: ask him jacht in Moscow. A. Yeah, there's a guy 400 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 6: yan who you need to meet him. Somebody's austrianas He's 401 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 6: a great guy. You need to meet jan. 402 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: Eventually, Julian decides to go public. He hands over four 403 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: plus hours of raw footage to the press, and then 404 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: in May twenty nineteen, it happens. The Abetha video lands, 405 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: and the effect is almost instantaneous. Strucker and Goudanas resign, 406 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,640 Speaker 1: the whole Austrian government collapses. Everything is in flux, and 407 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: this is the moment. When I arrived in Vienna, I 408 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: did reach out to Heinz christ Shruker about all this. 409 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,680 Speaker 1: He told me that the Abetha video was a setup, 410 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: in his words, an illegally staged trap. In fact, he 411 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: believes there was another actor behind Julian and his lawyer friend, 412 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 1: an intelligence service. He says the video was edited to 413 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: do maximum damage to him, pointing out that only five 414 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,320 Speaker 1: minutes or so of tape was initially released. The rest 415 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: of the tape, he says, shows him rejecting offers of corruption. 416 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: He also wonders why the video was released nearly two 417 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: years after it was made. Of the seventeen official investigations 418 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: and lawsuits against him, fourteen have now been dropped or 419 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 1: overturned on appeal. As it happens, Strucker hasn't left politics. 420 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: He's running to be mayor of Vienna as leader of 421 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: his new political party team Harsei. We reached out to 422 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: Goodinas too, he didn't respond. He has always denied wrongdoing 423 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: and refuted allegations of corruption in connection with the Abetha scandal. 424 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: The day after Julian's video aired, I took a call 425 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: from a friendly diplomat. He had seen my coverage of 426 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 1: the Abetha scandal, and he off handedly told me, if 427 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: you're interested in real Russian influence in Austrian politics, never 428 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: mind fake oligarch's nieces, then you need to dig into 429 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: the Austrian Russian Friendship Society. I grin broadly as I 430 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: hear this, because that has got to be the worst 431 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: cover name for a front organization I have ever heard. 432 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 1: He says, all the best secrets in Austria are in 433 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 1: plain sight. It turns out that there's even a website 434 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: for the Friendship Society, the UFGE, which stands for take 435 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: a deep breath. Everyone is to Reikish Worsishevfreinschaft gaze shaft. 436 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: It's pretty clear that lots of material has already been 437 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: taken down, but not everything. There's still a link to 438 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: a flier an invitation a summit featuring Russia's deputy foreign minister, 439 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,120 Speaker 1: It's ambassador to vienn and a host of security officials 440 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: from Moscow. The venue the Austrian Ministry of Defense. For 441 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,439 Speaker 1: the second time in the day, I find myself grinning, 442 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: maybe even actually laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of 443 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: this because the thing is Russia, even at this stage, 444 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: is something of a pariah in Europe. In February twenty fourteen, 445 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: it invaded its neighbour seizing CRIMEA. It's medled in the 446 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: US presidential election. It's been exposed for the mass doping 447 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,239 Speaker 1: of its athletes at the Olympics. It's systematically hacking and 448 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: in some cases damaging commercial computer networks. It's just killed 449 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: an innocent woman in Britain with a highly dangerous nerve 450 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: agent in a botched assassination attempt. Even if the Austrian 451 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: government hadn't just collapsed, this friendly meeting would look odd. 452 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 4: First thing. 453 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: The next day, I call the Ministry of Defense to 454 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: ask about this summit, and I'm surprised when I actually 455 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: get an answer. It's not happening at the Ministry anymore. 456 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 1: I get told it's going to be held privately, and 457 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: then Soto Voce, I'm not sure I'm supposed to say, 458 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: where a pause? Have you got a pen? It's happening 459 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: at the Grand Hotel, the very same hotel in downtown 460 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: Vienna where Julian Hessenthaler first tried and failed to get 461 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: Johann Gurdenos on tape before Ibitha. That afternoon, I decide 462 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: to try and gatecrash this summit. The Grand Hotel has 463 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: a busy taxi rank outside, which gives the opportunity to 464 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: walk past relatively inconspicuously. I try to get a sense 465 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: of what's going on inside and whether there are any 466 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: irritating security arrangements in place. It seems there or not. 467 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: I strided in as confidently as I can. Reception is quiet. 468 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: There's no obvious sign that anything is happening here today. 469 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: I ask a porter. He tells me to look upstairs 470 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: in the conference suite. There's a thrum of people towards 471 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 1: the end of the corridor, so I discreetly join them, 472 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: and I'm surprised when I get ushered into this room 473 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: and hurried into a seat. The Russian deputy foreign Minister 474 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: and ambassador are about to arrive, and the organizers want 475 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:19,679 Speaker 1: everyone sat down. What followed wasn't hugely exciting. There were 476 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: some odd speeches, full of platitudes and familiar Russian talking 477 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: points about their status as a great power and so on. 478 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 1: At this stage, I don't really know what I'm here 479 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: looking for or expecting. I don't recognize the faces of 480 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,280 Speaker 1: the various civil servants who have turned up. So I 481 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 1: decide I'll creep out at the next opportunity. I've seen 482 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,719 Speaker 1: this event taking place, I've seen what's being said, and 483 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: to be honest, for now, that seems like enough. I'm 484 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 1: also on a bit of an adrenaline high, mainly because 485 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: I'm pretty surprised I haven't yet been rumbled. But then 486 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: as I leave, something else catches my eye. In the 487 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: corridor now empty is a registration desk. On this registration 488 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: desk a sheet of paper, a register of attendees and invitees. 489 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,959 Speaker 1: Without stopping to think, I grab it, roll it up, 490 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:12,959 Speaker 1: and stick it in the inside pocket of my jacket. 491 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: I don't properly look at it until I'm back at 492 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: my hotel, sat in front of my laptop. I know 493 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: this document could be important because I think my diplomat 494 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: friend was hinting earlier that the Friendship Society is a 495 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: cover for Russian influence and intelligence operations. So I look 496 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: through the list for leads. None of the names jump 497 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: out at me until I noticed something else. One sponsor 498 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: has a very familiar name, Wirecard. I told myself that 499 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: this sudden appearpearance of wire Card, a huge German company 500 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: my colleagues were investigating for fraud. Was probably a coincidence, 501 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: but it kept niggling at me. Paul Murphy, my editor 502 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: at the FT, had told me that Marcelec Wirecard's chief 503 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: operating officer was somehow involved in Austrian politics behind the scenes, 504 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,479 Speaker 1: an impression he'd got from their lunches together in London 505 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: and Munich. After only a few weeks in Austria, I 506 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: felt I had found some tiny bits of a puzzle. 507 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,959 Speaker 1: I knew they must join together to maybe tell us 508 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: what Marcelet was up to. I just couldn't see how 509 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: I needed to find someone who could help. That someone 510 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,840 Speaker 1: turned out to be Stephanie Crisper Stephie. 511 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 7: I never wanted to get into politics. I had no 512 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 7: intention to do so. 513 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: Stephie is an MP for Austria's young reformist party, The Nails. 514 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,040 Speaker 1: She's now one of my most valuable contacts in Austria. 515 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: Stephie remembers hearing about Julian's Abetha video. As for most 516 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: of Austria's liberal politicians, it was an electric moment. 517 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 4: I was totally astonished. 518 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 7: What was shocking is the brutality in which Stracher voised 519 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 7: his intentions to act in a corrupt way. 520 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: After the Abetha scandal broke, the Austrian Parliament voted to 521 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 1: create a special investigatory committee with huge powers, basically the 522 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: ability to act like a mini court. It was called 523 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: the Abetha Committee. Almost all of its work was secret, 524 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: but it was investigating exactly what I was interested in. 525 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: Thanks to Julian and the Abetha scandal, it was going 526 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: to probe Russian influence in Austrian politics, among other things, 527 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: the Friendship society, so surely I thought it would shed 528 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: further light on marcele X's role there. Stephie, she was 529 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 1: a member of this committee, the most outspoken, and that's 530 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: why I knew I had to try and get to 531 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: know her. The first time I met with Stephi in 532 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: person was not long after the Obetha scandal broke. We 533 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: were in her office, a huge grand room like all 534 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: these other Viennese offices, but the floor space was filled 535 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: with desks and files. We were talking about corruption in 536 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: Austrian politics. But at the end of the conversation I 537 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: asked if she had ever heard of anyone called Jan Marsilek. 538 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: Stephie and I have slightly different memories of how that 539 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: conversation went. And then at the end of the meeting, 540 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: I asked, oh, and do you know anything about this guy, 541 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,959 Speaker 1: Jan marshal Ek. But that was I said no, you didn't. 542 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 4: You said maybe, yeah, but I didn't say anything. 543 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: You you looked in a funny way and said, m. 544 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 4: I'll talk about ask someone exactly. 545 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: Stephie is right. She didn't say anything. But what was 546 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: totally clear to me was that yes, she did know 547 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: this name, and for whatever reason, she couldn't talk about it. 548 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 1: Next time I was in Vienna, Steffie got in touch. 549 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: She said she'd like to tell me something. She suggested 550 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: a venue. It's a boat on the Danube, well almost, 551 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,440 Speaker 1: it's a maued floating pavilion really, and it's on the 552 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: Danube Canal. But anyway, it was mid afternoon and it 553 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 1: was cold, and when I get there, Steffie suggests we 554 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,800 Speaker 1: sit outside. We're the only ones. Stephie says that yes, 555 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: she has heard of Jan Marcelek. Specifically, she's heard about 556 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: him through a friend. She can't really tell me much more, 557 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: but this friend, she says, believes Marcelek is very dangerous. 558 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 7: And I'm asked not to talk to anybody because he 559 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 7: like others just tell me things because they are afraid. 560 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 7: So I to do nothing. I mean, yes, I google myself, Marcelek, etcetera. 561 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 7: But I don't ask journalists you what they think about 562 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 7: this guy. I really do nothing. 563 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 1: What he said to you, he was worried about his 564 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,480 Speaker 1: personal safety, Yes, exactly. I tell her what I know, 565 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: that wirecarde is a huge fraud, that Marcilek is at 566 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 1: the center of it, and that we at the FT 567 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 1: know he uses aggressive surveillance and private investigators to go 568 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: after people. Stephie says she'll go back to her source 569 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,800 Speaker 1: and relay that we're looking into Marcelek, but she doesn't 570 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: tell me much more. The impression I get is that 571 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 1: whoever this person is, he's not exactly the anxious type, 572 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:48,359 Speaker 1: and so whatever he's concerned about is genuine. Stephie later 573 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,800 Speaker 1: asked this man if he'd be willing to meet me, 574 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: and he was. 575 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 7: I thought, I hope that he will talk to you 576 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,239 Speaker 7: and you will be able to investigate on it. And 577 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:06,799 Speaker 7: things come up and there are consequences and PEPs misdeeds 578 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,480 Speaker 7: and misbehavior is stopped. 579 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: Several weeks go by and Steffie gets in touch again. 580 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:20,960 Speaker 1: It's late December and I'm back in Vienna for a 581 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,720 Speaker 1: quick visit to tie up some loose ends before heading 582 00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:27,360 Speaker 1: back to Zurich. Vienna is feeling particularly festive and in 583 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: the city parks, foresters have come down from the hills 584 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,120 Speaker 1: with huge truckloads of fir trees to sell to the Viennese. 585 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,160 Speaker 1: Steffie tells me this source of hers is in town. Now, 586 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: that's rare, she says, normally he's not even in Europe. 587 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,240 Speaker 1: But time is limited. He can meet in the evening. 588 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:49,080 Speaker 1: I curse because my flight home is at seven, but 589 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,520 Speaker 1: I decide I can catch the night train back instead, 590 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,360 Speaker 1: So I go back to Stephie and the meeting is on. 591 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: We agree a venue, Cafe Prucu Prukol is one of 592 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 1: the great Viennese coffee houses. Its interior is unexpected. It's 593 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:20,919 Speaker 1: a beautiful, entirely original nineteen fifties scheme, polished wood, light green, 594 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,800 Speaker 1: upholstery worn and a bit tatty, and some soft dusty 595 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,000 Speaker 1: pink on the walls. This time in the evening is 596 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: bright and busy. There's a pianist. Waiters hurry back and forth, 597 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: and there's a typical Viennese crowd, young Christmas revelers, stately 598 00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: dharma with tissans and furs and academic looking men faces 599 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 1: buried in huge newspapers. That evening, I grab a discrete 600 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,359 Speaker 1: table in the corner of the room with a view 601 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 1: to the door and my back to the wall. I 602 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: don't know who I'm looking for, and in keeping with 603 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,560 Speaker 1: the generally cinematic feel of it all, I turn up 604 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,560 Speaker 1: to Prukel with a copy of the ft In under 605 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:04,719 Speaker 1: my arm so much it turned out hinged on this 606 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 1: moment and what it would deliver treasure a breakthrough lead. 607 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:14,640 Speaker 1: As far as I was aware, I only had one 608 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: shot with this source and we only had fifteen minutes. 609 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: I had to find out what he knew. But I 610 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,080 Speaker 1: also needed to get a sense of whether he was credible, 611 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,360 Speaker 1: and most important of all, I had to try to 612 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,560 Speaker 1: convey to him that I was credible too. I needed 613 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: him to trust me enough that I could keep a 614 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,760 Speaker 1: connection with him. And then I spot a man coming 615 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,520 Speaker 1: through the door of the cafe. Looking around. He's in 616 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,400 Speaker 1: his mid fifties. He's solidly built, ever so slightly imposing, 617 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:48,560 Speaker 1: with a broad, open face and thick stubble. He walks 618 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:51,399 Speaker 1: towards me, spotting the copy of the paper in front 619 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:56,120 Speaker 1: of me. I'm Killian, he says. We don't have much time, 620 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,880 Speaker 1: and in my haste, all I've brought with me to 621 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,319 Speaker 1: scribble on is the time only four sheet pad for 622 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:04,920 Speaker 1: telephone messages from my hotel room. Can you tell me 623 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 1: who you are? 624 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 4: I ask? 625 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,320 Speaker 1: Can you tell me what you know about Yan Marsilek. 626 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,919 Speaker 1: He's met Yan Marcelek a handful of times, He's been 627 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: to his home, he's had dinner with him, he was 628 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: employed by him, and he's convinced that Marcelek is working 629 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:28,160 Speaker 1: closely with Russian intelligence. How does Killian know that? Because 630 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:40,080 Speaker 1: Yan basically did everything but tell him so next time 631 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: on Hot Money. 632 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 5: And then very fast actually he started then talking about 633 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:49,720 Speaker 5: his experience in Syria facilitated by the boys, just after 634 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 5: the recapture of the city of Panira from Isis. 635 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 1: When he said, with the boys, what did you say? 636 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,400 Speaker 5: He basically said, with the Russians. 637 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,239 Speaker 1: Hot Money is a production of The Financial Times and 638 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries. It was written and reported by me Sam Jones. 639 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,680 Speaker 1: The senior producer and co writer is Peggy Sutton, our 640 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:18,799 Speaker 1: producer is Izzy Carter. Our researcher is Marine Saint. Our 641 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,480 Speaker 1: show is edited by Karen Shakergi, fact checking by Kira Levine, 642 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:28,520 Speaker 1: sound design and mastering by Jake Gorsky and Marcelo de Olivia, 643 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 1: with additional sound design by Izzy Carter. Original music from 644 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,959 Speaker 1: Matthias Bossi and John Evans of Stellwagen Symphonet. Our show 645 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 1: art is by Sean Carney. Our executive producers are Cheryl Brumley, 646 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:48,800 Speaker 1: Amy Gains McQuaid and Matthew Garahan. Additional editing by Paul Murphy. 647 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:54,720 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Ruler Calaffe, Dan McCrumb, Laura Clark, Alistair Mackey, 648 00:39:55,080 --> 00:40:01,280 Speaker 1: Manuela Saragosa, Nigel Hanson, Vicky Merrick, Eric Sandler, Morgan Ratner, 649 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:07,359 Speaker 1: Jake Flanagan, Jacob Goldstein, Sarah Nix, and Greta Cohane. I'm 650 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:20,040 Speaker 1: Sam Jones. Subscribe to Pushkin Plus to listen to Hot Money, 651 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:23,320 Speaker 1: Agent of Chaos ad free. As a Pushkin Plus subscriber, 652 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,799 Speaker 1: you'll also get bonus episodes, full audiobooks, and binges from 653 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:30,319 Speaker 1: your favorite Pushkin hosts and authors. Find Pushkin Plus on 654 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:32,960 Speaker 1: the Hot Money Show page on Apple Podcasts, or at 655 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:34,720 Speaker 1: pushkin dot fm, slash plus