True Criminals

In this second of two special episodes of True Criminals, journalists Helen Fospero and Martin Brunt are joined once again by investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, whose reporting helped expose Malaysia’s extraordinary 1MDB scandal and the disappearance of billions of dollars from a state investment fund. With former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak behind bars, the investigation turns to the mysterious financier Jho Low, the fugitive businessman at the centre of the scandal, whose extravagant spending brought him into the orbit of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Rewcastle Brown reveals how money stolen from 1MDB helped finance The Wolf of Wall Street, and how Low showered celebrities with extraordinary gifts, including a Picasso painting for Leonardo DiCaprio and millions of dollars’ worth of jewellery for supermodel Miranda Kerr. From champagne-fuelled parties in Las Vegas to private jets, priceless artwork and a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar superyacht, she describes a world of almost unimaginable excess – and the public money that helped pay for it. But Low’s disappearance following the first major 1MDB exposé in February 2015 would lead Rewcastle Brown towards an even more extraordinary story. In her latest investigation, detailed in her new book, The China Contract, she uncovers evidence of an alleged international cover-up involving Chinese state-linked companies, inflated infrastructure contracts and billions of dollars in secret financial transactions, designed, she alleges, to plug the enormous financial hole left by the 1MDB scandal. She explains how a mysterious leaked document first alerted her to an alleged $8bn scheme involving China's Belt and Road Initiative, and how a whistleblower who escaped from Kuwait with crucial documents helped her piece together the money trail. Rewcastle Brown also discusses her belief that Jho Low is hiding in China, the reported attempts to secure pardons in Malaysia and the United States, and her continuing efforts to trace billions she believes remain hidden within the international banking system. From Hollywood and Macau to China, Kuwait and London's financial institutions, this is a remarkable account of how corruption can cross borders, implicate powerful institutions and evade justice long after the original crime has been exposed. And at the heart of it all is a devastating question: what could those billions have done for the ordinary people of Malaysia, particularly the indigenous communities of Borneo, whose struggle first inspired Rewcastle Brown’s investigation? As she tells Helen and Martin, the story is far from over. There is still missing money to trace, powerful institutions to scrutinise and new evidence to uncover. Clare Rewcastle Brown’s latest book, The China Contract: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Financial Scandal … and How It Was Covered Up, continues her investigation into the 1MDB affair. Find The China Contract here: https://saqibooks.com/books/the-westbourne-press/the-china-contract/?utm_source=truecrime&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=truecrimepodcast  SUPPORT THE SHOW Listen ad-free and access our full catalogue, including a True Criminals coffee mug, on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/truecriminals⁠  As an independent podcast, we rely on listener support. You can also donate via PayPal: ⁠https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YQVFJR5766BJE⁠  FOLLOW TRUE CRIMINALS Instagram: @true.criminals TikTok: @truecriminalspodcast CONNECT WITH MARTIN BRUNT Follow Martin on Twitter at @skymartinbrunt. Discover more about his career and the cases he’s covered by reading his book, No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter, available here: ⁠https://amzn.eu/d/g1WisSY⁠  CONNECT WITH HELEN FOSPERO Follow Helen on Instagram at @helenfospero and check out her podcast, The Convex Conversation, here: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-convex-conversation/id1510209575⁠  CREDITS True Criminals is produced by Audio Bleach Global. Visit: ⁠https://www.audiobleachglobal.com/truecriminals⁠  Executive Producer: Lee Mann  Producer: Russell Barnes  Audio Production: BLEACHED  Music Composition:BLEACHED Artwork: BLEACHED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On September 11, 2001, Helen Fospero stood on the fire escape of her New York apartment and watched the unthinkable unfold. Living just blocks from the World Trade Center and working as a British television correspondent in New York, Helen witnessed the second plane strike the Twin Towers. Then, as she tried to contact her cameraman and understand what was happening, she watched the South Tower collapse before her eyes. Twenty five years later, Helen shares her deeply personal memories of 9/11 with her True Criminals co host, veteran crime reporter Martin Brunt. For this special episode, their usual roles are reversed. Martin asks the questions as Helen recounts the confusion of those first moments, the fear on the streets below her apartment, the collapse of both towers, and the instinct that took over as she went from witness to reporter on one of the darkest days in modern history. Helen remembers arriving at Ground Zero in the hours after the attacks and seeing firefighters searching desperately through the rubble for survivors. She recalls the families searching for missing loved ones, the stories of extraordinary courage she encountered in the days and weeks that followed, and the remarkable humanity of a city experiencing unimaginable grief. She also reflects on the people whose stories have remained with her ever since, including survivors, bereaved families and firefighters who entered the towers as thousands of others were trying to escape. And she remembers one haunting moment after finishing her first broadcast from Ground Zero. Walking home through the silent streets of Manhattan, Helen looked back at the empty space in the skyline where the Twin Towers had stood and realised that nothing would ever be quite the same again. This is not simply the story of a journalist covering 9/11. It is the story of a woman who witnessed history from her own home, reported from Ground Zero in its immediate aftermath, and has carried the memories of the people she met there for a quarter of a century. In this deeply personal episode of True Criminals, Helen and Martin reflect on September 11, the investigation that followed, the courage of passengers and crew aboard the hijacked aircraft, the bravery of first responders, the survivors who escaped the World Trade Center, and the lasting impact of the attacks on New York and the wider world. We remember the 2,977 victims of the September 11 attacks, and all those whose lives were forever changed by that day. SUPPORT THE SHOW Listen ad free and access our full catalogue, including a True Criminals coffee mug, on Patreon: Support True Criminals on Patreon As an independent podcast, we rely on listener support. You can also donate via PayPal: Support True Criminals via PayPal Instagram: @true.criminalsTikTok: @truecriminalspodcast Follow Martin on Twitter at @skymartinbrunt. Discover more about his career and the cases he has covered in his book, No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter: Buy Martin Brunt’s book Follow Helen on Instagram at @helenfospero and listen to her podcast, The Convex Conversation: Listen to The Convex Conversation True Criminals is produced by Audio Bleach Global. Visit True Criminals at Audio Bleach Global Executive Producer: Lee MannProducer: Russell BarnesAudio Production: BLEACHEDMusic Composition: BLEACHEDArtwork: BLEACHED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this first of two special episodes of True Criminals, journalists Helen Fospero and Martin Brunt are joined by investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, whose reporting helped expose the extraordinary corruption at the heart of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal. Rewcastle Brown’s investigation began in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, where the destruction of tropical rainforest and the loss of indigenous land led her to investigate political corruption. Following the money would eventually take her to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the Malaysian state investment fund established under former prime minister Najib Razak. US prosecutors later alleged that more than $4.5bn was misappropriated from 1MDB, with money funnelled through shell companies and offshore accounts and spent on luxury property, jewellery, priceless art, a superyacht and assets connected to the financing of The Wolf of Wall Street. Rewcastle Brown reveals how leaked documents and whistleblower Xavier Justo helped her uncover a money trail involving PetroSaudi International and Malaysian financier Jho Low, the fugitive businessman alleged by US authorities to have played a central role in the scheme. Working from her kitchen table in London, she found herself taking on some of the most powerful people and institutions in international finance and politics. She describes legal threats, surveillance and intimidation, being targeted by Malaysian authorities – and the extraordinary moment she took her evidence to the FBI, helping to trigger a major US investigation into international kleptocracy and money laundering. From Goldman Sachs and offshore banking to Hollywood celebrities, Beverly Hills mansions and billions in missing money, this is the remarkable inside story of how determined investigative journalism helped expose a scandal that shook Malaysia, contributed to the downfall of a government and reverberated through financial institutions around the world. And this is only Part One. In Part Two, the investigation turns to Jho Low’s extraordinary Hollywood connections, his life as an international fugitive and Rewcastle Brown’s latest investigation into the alleged efforts to cover up the 1MDB financial hole – a trail that leads to China. Clare Rewcastle Brown’s latest book, The China Contract: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Financial Scandal … and How It Was Covered Up, continues her investigation into the 1MDB affair. Find The China Contract here: https://saqibooks.com/books/the-westbourne-press/the-china-contract/?utm_source=truecrime&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=truecrimepodcast SUPPORT THE SHOW Listen ad-free and access our full catalogue, including a True Criminals coffee mug, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truecriminals As an independent podcast, we rely on listener support. You can also donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YQVFJR5766BJE FOLLOW TRUE CRIMINALS Instagram: @true.criminalsTikTok: @truecriminalspodcast CONNECT WITH MARTIN BRUNT Follow Martin on Twitter at @skymartinbrunt. Discover more about his career and the cases he’s covered by reading his book, No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter, available here: https://amzn.eu/d/g1WisSY CONNECT WITH HELEN FOSPERO Follow Helen on Instagram at @helenfospero and check out her podcast, The Convex Conversation, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-convex-conversation/id1510209575 CREDITS True Criminals is produced by Audio Bleach Global. Visit: https://www.audiobleachglobal.com/truecriminals Executive Producer: Lee MannProducer: Russell BarnesAudio Production: BLEACHEDMusic Composition: BLEACHEDArtwork: BLEACHED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Please enjoy this complimentary extended episode! If you’d like more episodes like this, you can become a Patreon Insider Member, where you’ll get access to extended and bonus episodes, listen completely ad-free, and unlock our full back catalogue. Membership also includes a True Criminals coffee mug. Join us on Patreon and get even more from True Criminals: Become a True Criminals Patreon Insider ........................................... In Part One, Bill Clegg KC revealed how the case against Colin Stagg collapsed, leaving Rachel Nickell’s real killer free. In Part Two, the story turns to the man who actually murdered her: Robert Napper. Helen Fospero and Martin Brunt are once again joined by Bill, who found himself in an extraordinary position. Having defended Colin Stagg, he later represented Napper after he was charged with the brutal murders of Samantha Bissett and her four-year-old daughter Jasmine. Within an hour of reading the case papers, Bill became convinced Napper was also the man who had killed Rachel. He explains the striking similarities between the crimes, the warning signs and missed opportunities surrounding Napper, and why police tunnel vision may have allowed the real killer to remain free. Years later, advances in forensic science finally linked Napper to Rachel’s murder. Sixteen years after her death, he admitted killing her on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Bill also reflects on the wider lessons of the case: the pressure on police to find a suspect in high-profile investigations, the danger of assumptions taking the place of evidence, and the devastating human cost when an investigation goes wrong. Bill Clegg KC's book, Under the Wig: A Lawyer's Stories of Murder, Guilt and Innocence: ⁠https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/william-clegg/under-the-wig/9781529401240/⁠ SUPPORT THE SHOW As an independent podcast, we rely on listener support. You can also donate via PayPal: ⁠https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YQVFJR5766BJE⁠ FOLLOW TRUE CRIMINALS Instagram: @true.criminalsTikTok: @truecriminalspodcast CONNECT WITH MARTIN BRUNT Follow Martin on Twitter at @skymartinbrunt. Discover more about his career and the cases he’s covered by reading his book, No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter, available here: ⁠https://amzn.eu/d/g1WisSY⁠ CONNECT WITH HELEN FOSPERO Follow Helen on Instagram at @helenfospero and check out her podcast, The Convex Conversation, here: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-convex-conversation/id1510209575⁠ CREDITS True Criminals is produced by Audio Bleach Global. Visit: ⁠https://www.audiobleachglobal.com/truecriminals⁠ Executive Producer: Lee MannProducer: Russell BarnesAudio Production: BLEACHEDMusic Composition: BLEACHEDArtwork: BLEACHED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Part One, Bill Clegg KC revealed how the case against Colin Stagg collapsed, leaving Rachel Nickell’s real killer free. In Part Two, the story turns to the man who actually murdered her: Robert Napper. Helen Fospero and Martin Brunt are once again joined by Bill, who found himself in an extraordinary position. Having defended Colin Stagg, he later represented Napper after he was charged with the brutal murders of Samantha Bissett and her four-year-old daughter Jasmine. Within an hour of reading the case papers, Bill became convinced Napper was also the man who had killed Rachel. He explains the striking similarities between the crimes, the warning signs and missed opportunities surrounding Napper, and why police tunnel vision may have allowed the real killer to remain free. Years later, advances in forensic science finally linked Napper to Rachel’s murder. Sixteen years after her death, he admitted killing her on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Bill also reflects on the wider lessons of the case: the pressure on police to find a suspect in high-profile investigations, the danger of assumptions taking the place of evidence, and the devastating human cost when an investigation goes wrong. Bill Clegg KC's book, Under the Wig: A Lawyer's Stories of Murder, Guilt and Innocence: https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/william-clegg/under-the-wig/9781529401240/ SUPPORT THE SHOW Listen ad-free and access our full catalogue, including a True Criminals coffee mug, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truecriminals As an independent podcast, we rely on listener support. You can also donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YQVFJR5766BJE FOLLOW TRUE CRIMINALS Instagram: @true.criminalsTikTok: @truecriminalspodcast CONNECT WITH MARTIN BRUNT Follow Martin on Twitter at @skymartinbrunt. Discover more about his career and the cases he’s covered by reading his book, No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter, available here: https://amzn.eu/d/g1WisSY CONNECT WITH HELEN FOSPERO Follow Helen on Instagram at @helenfospero and check out her podcast, The Convex Conversation, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-convex-conversation/id1510209575 CREDITS True Criminals is produced by Audio Bleach Global. Visit: https://www.audiobleachglobal.com/truecriminals Executive Producer: Lee MannProducer: Russell BarnesAudio Production: BLEACHEDMusic Composition: BLEACHEDArtwork: BLEACHED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices