A charming young Czech promises staggering returns. An entire country’s oil industry is up for grabs. America’s top investors want in. Sounds too good to be true? Damn right it is. This is a story of private jets, $20,000 dinners, and suitcases stuffed with cash. It’s also a tale about the collapse of communism, the free-for-all that followed, and the birth of the oligarchs. And it’s a story of plain-old human greed...of just how far the rich may go to get even richer. Viktor Kožený smooth-talked his super-wealthy Aspen neighbors and a Wall Street titan into investing huge sums of cash to snap up Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company. Host Joe Nocera and investigative journalist Peter Elkind follow the trail, beginning in the Bahamas, where the charismatic financial genius has been lying low. The Pirate of Prague is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Blanchard House. Episodes available now, follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. apple.co/pirate
Paradise island, the Bahamas.
Hello?
Hello, Victor?
Hello?
Hello?
Hi, I'm a journalist and I'm trying to find one of your neighbors and wanted to see if you could help me find him.
It's a fellow named Victor Kochenye.
Red hair.
He's a white man, kind of round face and curly hair.
This place looks like a down at the Heels Motel.
Two stories, peeling paint, doors off the hinges.
It's not the Bahamas of your dreams.
Yes, there's a pool out back, but you wouldn't want to swim in it.
This is the last place you'd expect to find the man we're looking for.
But all the leads point right here.
Okay?
You don't know anything about him.
Okay, thank you very much.
Have a great day.
I've never seen him actually.