3 episodes
The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam BBC Podcasts
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- True Crime
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5.0 • 13 Ratings
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It was the biggest gold discovery in history... until it wasn’t. In 1995, Canadian mining company Bre-X announced to the world it had found a significant amount of gold deep in the jungles of Indonesia. Stock prices soared as investors worldwide fought to stake their claim. But when Bre-X’s chief geologist mysteriously fell from a helicopter over the jungle, the story of the billion dollar discovery began to unravel. Nearly three decades later, no one has ever been held accountable. Now, host Suzanne Wilton takes listeners from the jungles of Indonesia to small town Alberta, Canada, to investigate what really happened and find out more about the man behind the biggest goldmine fraud of all time. Produced for the BBC World Service and CBC by BBC Scotland Productions.
Please note, this series contains references to suicide and has some graphic content.
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Introducing The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam
It was the biggest gold mine fraud of all time – a scam that devastated countless lives. But what really happened? Suzanne Wilton revisits the story that she just couldn’t let go of, to find answers about how the scam was perpetrated… and about the mysterious death of a geologist in the jungle. Released from 19 May 2024.
From the BBC World Service and CBC. -
1. The fall
Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman is the man of the hour. He’s responsible for one of the biggest gold discoveries in the world, deep in the Indonesian jungle. It’s a find that sends Bre-X stock prices soaring to stratospheric heights. So his apparent death - a dramatic fall from a helicopter flying to the gold site - sends shockwaves around the world. Did he jump? Was he pushed? But the days following his death will prove even more shocking.
Please note, this episode contains difficult subject matter, including references to suicide and death. The series has references to suicide and some graphic content. -
2. The believers
It’s gold fever. Estimates put the Bre-X discovery at four times the size of the biggest known gold deposit, and investors are trying to cash in. A small Canadian town is swept up in the gold rush. But others are asking questions, including a hedge fund manager who goes to extraordinary lengths to get inside the Indonesia gold site.
Since this episode was recorded, John McBeth has sadly passed away. We are very grateful for his contribution to this story.
Customer Reviews
Brilliant
I love this show, I was involved with a guy called Ronald Stanley Byrom, look him up on Microsoft Copilot. A born swindlers, well I got involved in a business with him dealing in copper tubing. The issue was that there wasn't any.
When I found out, and departed pronto, I called it fopper tubing, as there is no f in copper. Say it a couple of times you'll get the joke I hope
Paul