Episode 1: The Bribe | FT Podcasts

A collection of clandestine lunch conferences leads Sam’s editor to ship him off to Vienna searching for one man.

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Hot Money, the award-winning podcast collection from the Financial Times and Pushkin Industries, is again with a 3rd season.

In 2020, the Financial Times uncovered a €2bn fraud at Wirecard, a high-flying German fintech. Many thought that was the top of the story. 

But for FT reporter Sam Jones, it was only the start. This season on Hot Money: Agent of Chaos, Sam investigates Wirecard’s chief working officer who vanished simply as Wirecard collapsed — and who turned out to even be a Russian spy. 

From an Ibizan sting operation to an tried takeover of the Austrian intelligence service, his reporting spirals right into a world of warlords, espionage and disinformation. 

All in an try and reply two questions: who’s the actual Jan Marsalek? And what does his secret life reveal concerning the highly effective forces he serves?

New episodes of the eight-part season will drop each Tuesday.

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