BBC World Service podcast The Lazarus Heist season two launches

The internationally-acclaimed true crime podcast, The Lazarus Heist from the BBC World Service returns for its second season.

Telling the story of the theft of billions of dollars around the globe, investigators claim a secretive ring of elite North Korean hackers is responsible.

North Korea denies any involvement, saying the United States is making the accusations to try and tarnish its image.

Nicknamed the Lazarus Group, season two reveals that they are now accused of more bank heists, having teaming up with sophisticated dark web criminals.

It’s about a massive heist on cashpoints, taking place in 28 countries, on the same day, all at the same time. Millions of dollars-worth of bank notes are withdrawn by criminals doing the dirty work of highly skilled hackers.

In just over two hours, nearly $15m is stolen – all from the accounts of Cosmos Bank in India.

The hackers are getting more ambitious and more successful. Investigators say they’ve moved from robbing banks, to stealing from cryptocurrency businesses, and now they’re raking in billions of dollars.

Hosted once again by  journalist Jean Lee, who opened the first and only US news bureau in North Korea, and Geoff White, an investigative journalist covering tech and organised crime, season two follows the success of the first, which was nominated for a Peabody award.

Across nine episodes, season two of The Lazarus Heist will be available on BBC Sounds and most other podcast platforms from 27 March. It will also be broadcast as a radio series later this year on the BBC World Service.