True Crime

The Pirate of Prague

by Apple TV / Blanchard House

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About the show

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. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. apple.co/pirate

Latest episodes

Bottom of the Barrel

December 18, 2023 · 46 min

After 18 months in a notorious Bahamian prison, Viktor walks free. But he’s still being hunted. The Czechs put him on trial in absentia. Trapped in the Bahamas, Viktor is shunned. For so long a self-promoting, globetrotting high roller, he…
The Seven Stages of Grief

December 11, 2023 · 40 min

Still reeling from the failed deal, investors begin to believe that Viktor may have double-crossed them. US Law enforcement also sets its sights on Viktor, investigating criminal allegations of a bribery scheme. Viktor is banged up in the…
Vallpaper!

December 4, 2023 · 40 min

Viktor and his investors await the Azeris’ approval of the oil deal they hope will trigger the ultimate payday. They bend over backwards to keep key officials onside. The Pirate of Prague is an Apple Original podcast, produced by…
In Bed With Baba

November 27, 2023 · 48 min

Just days after his swanky Christmas party in Aspen, Viktor starts recruiting his high-flying guests for his next grand plan: getting control of the state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan. With promises of eye-watering returns, Viktor…
Lifeless Cay

November 20, 2023 · 40 min

Mired in a bribery scandal and wanted by the Czech authorities, Viktor flees to the Bahamas with his young family and a large sum of cash. In the exclusive resort of Lyford Cay, he starts to spend it in earnest. But he’s already got his…
The Three Vaclavs

November 13, 2023 · 39 min

With the old Czech communists ousted, Viktor finds his one true talent— making money. Lots of it. He rapidly amasses a vast fortune by persuading fellow citizens to invest with him so he can hoover up valuable state assets. But when rumors…
The Best Student Harvard Ever Had

November 13, 2023 · 41 min

How it all started: After escaping communist Czechoslovakia, the wily young Viktor orchestrates a trip to America by posing as a physics prodigy. Taken in by a generous college professor, Viktor then runs off with the man’s wife and talks…
The Party

November 13, 2023 · 33 min

Christmas 1997. Viktor Kožený, a charismatic financial whiz kid from the former Czechoslovakia, throws a lavish party at his $20-million mountaintop mansion in Aspen. It’s so excessive that even his super-rich neighbors are blown away. But…