New podcast on one of the biggest goldmining frauds of all time
A co-production from the BBC World Service and CBC investigates what was originally thought to be the biggest gold discovery in history.
The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam hosted by Suzanne Wilton tells of when Canadian mining company Bre-X announced to the world that it had found a large deposit of gold, deep in the jungles of Indonesia in 1995. Stock prices soared, as investors worldwide fought for their stake. But not everything was as it seemed.
The nine-part series follows the real-life events that led to the reported death of Bre-X’s chief geologist, after mysteriously falling from a helicopter in the Indonesian jungle.
Thousands invested in the scam, and as the billion-dollar discovery was found to be fake, some investors lost millions, while those who’d invested their life savings lost everything, devastating lives across the world.
No one has been ever held accountable, so now, nearly thirty years later, Suzanne Wilton follows fresh new leads to bring new information to light about what really happened.
Suzanne says: “I have been chasing Bre-X ghosts for 25 years, trying to unravel the biggest gold hoax in history. I travelled to the Borneo jungle, to Manila, to small town Alberta in search of answers.
“In this series, I revisit this story, uncovering new revelations about the mysterious death of Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman, and the scam that saw ordinary people lose their life savings, and other investors lose millions overnight, which for some was too big a loss to bear.”
Producer Kate Bissell adds: “The story of Bre-X and the biggest ever gold find is full of mystery and intrigue. Some say, even a curse.
“At the start of production, an interviewee warned us, ‘some stories will always remain a mystery, this may be one of them’.
“While investigating the podcast for over a year, several key witnesses agreed to speak for the first time, generating very surprising new information, questioning what really happened to Michael de Guzman.”
All nine episodes of The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam will be available as a boxset on BBC Sounds, CBC Listen, and also on BBC Podcasts Premium for listeners outside the UK, from Sunday 19 May.
Episodes will be released weekly on most other podcast apps and platforms. The series will air weekly on BBC World Service radio from Wednesday 24 July.