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.

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