Episode 2: The Friendship Society | FT Podcasts

As Sam arrives in Vienna, a political bomb explodes. A secretly recorded video exposes ties between the far proper and Russia, plunging the Austrian authorities into disaster and revealing a world the place individuals reminiscent of Jan Marsalek can thrive.

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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 just 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 to 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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