Episode Four: (Dis)order in Court

Summary

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Fraudacious — Episode Four: (Dis)order in Court

Podcast: Fraudacious
Host/Narrator: Vicki Baker
Guest Voices: Bridget (loan victim), Roger (Bridget’s friend and ex-estate agent), Daisy Graham Brown (investigative reporter), Ekaterina Barrett (voiced by actress), Bridget’s Barrister
Release Date: March 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, journalist Vicki Baker unpacks the deepening mystery behind Ekaterina Barrett, the enigmatic socialite at the center of a million-pound legal feud with London boutique owner Bridget Hutchcroft. After years of high living, flash hotels, and whispered rumors of oligarch money, Bridget finds herself out over a million pounds—and fighting in court for answers and justice. The episode tracks the mounting legal battle, exposes a web of deception, and brings in fresh evidence from witnesses, a determined circle of friends, and a parallel case from a wealthy Swiss family. At its heart is the burning question: Is Ekaterina an unlucky divorcee with generous family patrons, or the architect of an international high-society con?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Chasing Ekaterina: Monaco to London (00:37–03:29; 19:13–21:09)

• Daisy Graham Brown’s Reporting: Daisy tracks down Ekaterina in Monte Carlo during scorching heat, describing her as shockingly pale, thin, and dressed in “a purple Chanel short dress with knee-high black boots…a bejeweled headband… bright orange hair” (01:49–02:21). She’s trailed by three Italian greyhounds—not exactly inconspicuous for someone supposedly hiding.

• Ekaterina’s Dismissal: When confronted, Ekaterina (voiced by an actress) rebuffs Daisy:

  “Everything is lie. What is written. Everything a lie.” (03:03, Ekaterina)

• Tensions in Court: Later, Daisy witnesses Ekaterina’s aggressive courtroom tactics, trying to force the journalist out and making bizarre accusations (“she was taking photos up my skirt”) to discredit her (19:48).

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2. Bridget’s Loyal Circle: Roger the Relentless (04:20–07:44; 11:56–15:23)

• Roger’s Motivation: Roger treats the pursuit of Ekaterina almost as a personal mission or “hobby,” tirelessly supporting Bridget through legal dead ends and set-backs:

  “I don’t know what I’d do without it. I find my next battle to fight. That’s how I see it, as a battle… a battle to fight on somebody’s behalf.” (05:00, Roger)

• On Bridget’s Resolve:

  “She said, no, I can’t let it go… I can’t let her rob me of all this money and then just look back on it in two or three years time, see her doing it to a load of other people and not having tried to stop her.” (06:47, Roger)

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3. The Web of Wealth: Substance or Smoke? (09:06–14:16)

• Unclear Origins: Roger and Bridget are baffled by the gap between Ekaterina’s ostentatious lifestyle (luxury flats, designer clothes, chauffeurs) and the ambiguous source of her income. Parallels are drawn with the Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin case—but with more tangible assets at stake.

• Mayfair Flat Mystery: Roger combines his decades of high-end property expertise with legal documents, finding that Ekaterina took out an inflated mortgage (over £3 million) after a “dreadful” overvaluation error—“What luck,” Roger remarks, disbelievingly (13:41).

• Monaco Flat and Shopping Sprees: Evidence emerges that, after remortgaging, Ekaterina burnt through €179,000 at Paris Chanel and Hermès—while simultaneously negotiating repayments with Bridget (14:16–15:00).

  “She has the luck of the devil. Every time things seem to go in her favour.” (15:19, Roger)

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4. Into the Courtroom: The Battle of Assets (17:23–32:05)

• Courtroom Drama: Bridget, Roger, and Daisy attend an asset disclosure hearing where Ekaterina must testify about her property and money under oath.

• Ekaterina’s Defense: She claims to possess no assets, stating:

  “I don’t have money. I have everything. They [my family] give it to me. What money? What money?” (23:07, Ekaterina)
  “My family paid all my expenses for everything. Whatever I need. Me and my dogs. It’s also part of the family.” (23:59, Ekaterina)

• Barrister’s Frustration: Bridget’s barrister attempts to pin down her finances, but Ekaterina repeatedly ties herself in knots:

  “I don’t buy nothing from Chanel. I don’t like Chanel anymore.” (28:12, Ekaterina, denying recent designer shopping, despite evidence to the contrary)
  Barrister: “What do you like?”
  Ekaterina: “Marks and Spencer.” (28:26–28:30)

• Inheritance and Family Wealth?: Bridget expresses skepticism after visiting Ekaterina’s mother (living in a “very ordinary” flat in Israel):

  “It was just a very ordinary apartment, a little bit dark… I have been in people’s homes who do have a lot of money and this didn’t look like one of those homes.” (25:15, Bridget)

• Deceptive Tactics: Court transcripts indicate a cycle of evasions, shifting narratives about assets—Monaco apartment now claimed to be her brother’s, luxury cars unaccounted for, and a LUCA Trust, now supposedly inaccessible or irrelevant (24:45, 27:52, 29:57).

• Emotional Impact: Bridget wonders if her former friend is simply running a con, but “there was a bit of what I call a village girl in her, though. She used to like going buying her own vegetables in Monaco.” (32:35, Bridget)

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5. Expanding the Victims: The Swiss Family Bombshell (37:13–41:23)

• Roger’s Swiss Call: Roger contacts the Swiss family Ekaterina referenced as benefactors—only to find they, too, are victims.

  “She said to me, oh, I wondered if we would ever hear from you…we have had a similar problem. We’ve lost an awful lot of money to Barrett ourselves.” (37:46, Roger)

• Swiss Lawsuit and Belgian Magnate: The Swiss family claim to have loaned Ekaterina €3.5 million and successfully sued her in Liechtenstein. Most astonishingly, they reveal a neighbor—“a Belgian steel magnate”—allegedly signed over €62 million to Ekaterina (41:08).

  “So what we then discover is that Ekaterina has become entangled with a Belgian steel magnate. She had managed to get him to sign over 62 million euros, which I know makes no sense at all.” (41:08, Roger)

• Modus Operandi: Victims report similar manipulation: switching stories, pitting one friend or lender against another, using others’ money to underpin her image of wealth and credibility (40:01).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Bridget’s resolve (06:47, Roger):

  “I can’t let her rob me of all this money and then just look back on it…and not having tried to stop her.”

• On Ekaterina’s manipulation (06:11, Roger):

  “She knows how to give credibility to what she’s doing. She’s very good at that.”

• On missing assets (09:06, Roger):

  “That was the mystery. That was the million dollar question. Where did that money come from?”

• Ekaterina’s courtroom strategy (19:48, Daisy):

  “She started saying these extraordinary things… I did not know vaguely what that could refer to.”

• On the unraveling (34:38, Roger):

  “This is somebody who is serially dishonest. At some point in time, the roof falls in because you just tell too many lies.”

• Bridget, reflecting (35:50):

  “I think somewhere along the line, she has got a pot of gold and she knows that that never, never must she talk about it.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:37–03:29] — Daisy’s run-in with Ekaterina in Monaco
• [04:20–07:44] — Roger’s motivation and unwavering support for Bridget
• [09:06–14:16] — The search for the source of Ekaterina’s wealth; mortgage investigation
• [17:23–21:09] — The stress and stakes of the courtroom asset hearing
• [22:00–32:05] — Ekaterina’s evasive testimony; breakdown of her claimed lifestyle, assets, family, and contradictions
• [37:13–41:23] — Roger’s contact with the Swiss family; revelation of further victims and a possible €62 million windfall

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Conclusion

Episode Four lays bare the duplicity and complexity of Ekaterina Barrett’s financial dealings and social manipulations. Through a mix of determined investigation, courtroom drama, and the emergence of additional victims across Europe, the episode peels back layers of illusion and prestige. As Bridget, Roger, and the Swiss family pool information, the tale widens in scale—hinting at the depth of Ekaterina’s confidence game and raising even bigger questions about the true source of her “pot of gold,” and whether anyone can pierce the glittering fog for justice and restitution.

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Transcript

[BBC Announcer]

At the BBC, we go further so you see clearer. With a subscription to BBC.com and the BBC app, you get unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries from less than a dollar a week for your first year. Read, watch and listen to trusted independent journalism and storytelling. It all starts with a subscription to BBC.com and the BBC app. Find out more at BBC.com unlimited.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Fraudatious is a novel production for BBC Studios.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

It was incredibly hot. I remember that kind of very humid heat.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

It's June 2023. Daisy Graham Brown is a young investigative reporter on her first overseas trip for work. She's waiting on a residential street in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

They're kind of quiet streets with palm trees, luxury tower blocks all piled up. You can kind of see through gaps in the apartment buildings opposite, down to the sea, that beautiful sort of Mediterranean blue.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

This tiny enclave on the French Riviera is one of the wealthiest places in the world. A few minutes walk away is the main port, filled with mega yachts belonging to the rich, famous and even richer unknowns. For Daisy, it's a less glamorous experience. In the sweltering summer heat. She's sitting on a wall waiting outside an apartment block. This is where Ekaterina Barrett is believed to be living.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

I was sort of tearing my hair out, wondering maybe we'd missed her, maybe there was an entrance we hadn't considered.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Yekaterina's financial feud with Bridget has now made the UK press. So Daisy's been sent here with a photographer for the Daily Mail. She's been sitting here for hours and

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

then all of a sudden there was just this bright shock of orange hair. Not ginger, not auburn, like orange, bright orange hair. And I said, oh my God, it's her, it's her, it's her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

The photographer races up the hill to get the shot.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

She was wearing this incredible purple Chanel short dress. It's like a button up kind of jacket dress with, with these like knee high black boots.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

These are the photos that grabbed my attention when I first came across the story.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

And then this like tangle of dog leads where she had these three Italian greyhounds kind of trotting alongside her with

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

a bejeweled headband topping off the outfit. It doesn't feel like the look of someone trying to keep a low profile. Ekaterina also looks very pale and thin.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

She looked incredibly different from the sort of smiley kind of alluring that I'd seen in past photographs of her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Yekaterina doesn't appear to see Daisy or the photographer. And within moments, she starts to disappear out of view. So the next day, Daisy comes back to make another approach. And after another few hours on the wall, Yekaterina appears with one of her greyhounds.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Everything is lie. What is written. Everything a lie.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Ekaterina's words here are spoken by an actress.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Look at me and look at her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

She starts to talk about Bridget, apparently trying to discredit the idea that she would ever have asked her for a loan.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

When I met her, I already have three Rolls Royce, three apartments in Mayfair.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Ekaterina also makes her position on paying Brigitte explicitly clear. She says she'll not pay her a penny. I'm Vicki Baker and from novel in association with BBC Studios, this is Fraudatious. Episode 4 the Windfall.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

Gosh, I haven't hit a ball all week. Let's see how it goes. Not too bad.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

This is how Bridget's friend Roger unwinds at the golf course. His club is in Surrey, a leafy county just outside London.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I've always been very competitive. Life generally I've always seen as a bit of a competition. You keep a balance on that or you try to. You don't let it go too far, but, you know, you give it your best, give it your best shot.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

These days, Roger has a new pastime. The pursuit of Yekaterina Barrett.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I almost see it as a hobby. Some people might still channel work or something like that when they retire. I don't know what I'd do without it. I find my next battle to fight. That's how I see it, as a battle. You know, how it's been for me. A battle to fight on somebody's behalf.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

We're back at Roger's apartment by the River Thames and a short drive from the golf club.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

What would you like? Tea, coffee?

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

Water?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Water would be good.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

What would you like?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger has been fully immersed in this story from the moment he found out about the extent of the loans. I've spent hours and hours talking about the case with him, trying to cut through all the smoke and mirrors surrounding Ekaterina's wealth. Today is no different. I've come to ask him about his motivations for devoting so much time to the case and about how he keeps going despite what seems like constant disappointments as Ekaterina fails to pay up. Once he gets started, there's no stopping him.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I've got to be honest and say, you know, chasing her down has been quite fascinating.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

As much as he dislikes Ekaterina, Roger admits he can't help being impressed by some of her skills.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She is very clever the way she does everything. She plays one off against the other. She knows how to give credibility to what she's doing. She's very good at that.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger and Yekaterina have never really properly spoken. They've only ever seen each other in legal settings. But I can't imagine that Yekaterina is his biggest fan either. Yekaterina's accused him and Bridget's other close friend Kevin of driving the entire case and pushing Bridget into it. Roger is adamant that it was ultimately Bridget's decision to take legal action and that he and Kevin were there to support her.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She said, no, I can't let it go. I can't let her rob me of all this money and then just look back on it in two or three years time, see her doing it to a load of other people and not having tried to stop her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

He says that is characteristic of Bridget.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

You know, she'd always stand up to a bully or. Yeah, it's quite courageous.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger is nonetheless extremely proactive. I've seen him in action. He follows leads, he badgers lawyers for updates. What Roger really wants is to see Bridget come out on top. It's quite something to have your ex boyfriend fighting your corner like this. I tell Roger I'm struck by is quite rare.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

And yes, you have different ideas about life and where you want to go and what you want to do. But I still care about Bridget to this day as much as I've always done.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

I want Roger to take me back to the summer of 2023, the same time those paparazzi style photos of Yekaterina appeared in the newspaper. By this point, Brigitte had been fighting for her money for more than four years and she was still high and dry without any further payments. But she hadn't given up. She'd already gone back to the High Court to present evidence that Yekaterina had failed to keep her side of the settlement dealing with in which she agreed to pay Bridget £1 million plus costs. And a judge had ruled in Bridget's favour. He had issued a final judgment stating that the debt now stood at £1,655,560. It's more than it was on account of added interest, which was around 180 pounds per day since the settlement was first signed and out of court one year beforehand. Yekaterina must pay up. But will she? Can she? When Brigitte first met Yekaterina, it seemed that she lived a highly luxurious lifestyle. And I've seen and heard evidence of that myself in Mayfair. I know she owned a 4 million pound flat, but the source of her immense wealth is still unclear.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

That was the mystery. That was the million dollar question. Where did that money come from?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

This question has baffled Roger and Bridget, and it's also baffled me. A few years ago, I investigated the fraudster Anna Sorokin, AKA Anna Delvey, or the fake heiress. Anna audaciously reinvented herself as a billionaire trust fund kid in New York. Despite coming from a very ordinary background. There are clear parallels. Both Anna and Ekaterina were born in the ussr. They both love fashion and luxury hotels. They both insert themselves into high society. And they both skip bills, dabble in forgery and explode friendships. But Anna appeared wealthy mostly by posing in the right places with the right people. On Instagram, she owned a tiny handful of designer clothes which she wore on rotation. And she was nomadically trying her luck, staying at five star hotels and moving on after debacles with the bills. The difference here is there is some substance to Yekaterina.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

Everything has a grain of truth in it. She clearly did have a lifestyle that you couldn't invent. She really did have the Monaco apartment. She really did have the flat in Mayfair. She did have the bank running around after her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

And she certainly had a gigantic wardrobe of designer clothes. So if she did have the money, a burning question remains. How did she build this wealth? Is any of it going to find its way to Bridget to settle the debt. From the get go? Bridget. Bridget's lawyers advised her to apply for a worldwide freezing order, subject to approval from overseas jurisdictions. This can make it difficult for Yekaterina to sell, transfer or hide anything she owns. While the financial conflict is outstanding, think of it as the legal version of putting someone's assets in a glass box until the case ends. It's like, look, but don't touch. The freezing order, which has to be approved by a judge, is is supposed to help the negotiation process too. So if Yekaterina says she has no money to pay Brigitte back, Brigitte can say, well, what about that apartment or car that you have? You can sell that and pay me back. Ekaterina had already provided some financial documentation to Brigitte's lawyers, including bank statements and account details. But they felt the picture was incomplete. And as always with Yekaterina, it leaves them with more questions than answers. Bridget's team needs to get a grip on what Yekaterina does actually own. And this is when it's handy to have a Former estate agent on board.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I probably was in my day. Probably one of the most expert people you could ever call upon to give you values in that part of central London. I've been doing the job for over 40 years at the very top end of the market.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger sifted through the information unearthed by Bridget's legal team. While using his own experience of the industry to do further sleuthing. He discovered a very messy financial picture behind Ekaterina's Mayfair apartment. Ekaterina had a hefty mortgage on the Property and in 2021 she was looking to get a new deal, seemingly to release some equity and free up some cash. This was before the freezing order kicked in. Yekaterina contacted a finance company based in Mayfair. It had a reputation for providing fast finance to high net worth individuals.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She tries to get a loan basically for as much as she could from them. To increase the level of mortgage, the

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

finance company sent an independent valuer to put a price on the apartment. As is customary, he valued it at close to £5 million, which in Roger's professional opinion was way more than it was worth.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I would have valued it at 3.75 million.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

The higher figure enabled Ekaterina to borrow more money via the finance company against the property. More than 3 million pounds in total. She used part of it to pay off her very large original mortgage, which was also in the millions. It still left her with a chunk of money somewhere between £700,000 and a million, which, though still a debt, was cash in hand.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

Unbelievable.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger tells me he suspected a scam when he first discovered this. His initial thought was that Ekaterina had somehow bribed the valuer or done some other backroom deal.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

That's what I naturally believed. I found out afterwards it was totally genuine. The valuer had made the most enormous up. Unbelievable. What luck. What luck. He just made a dreadful, dreadful mistake.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

So, yeah, Katerina comes out of this with money in her pocket.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

So she walks away. Guess what she did.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger and Bridget believe they know where this money went. They've looked at the bank statements she provided via her lawyers. They show that in 2021, just after doing the remortgage deal, Yekaterina went on an eye popping summer spending spree in Paris. She spent €179,000 in Hermes and Chanel in just two days. I don't know for sure how she funded that, but I do know this spree is taking place during the same week that Yekaterina is going through mediation meetings with Bridget.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I mean, this is impossible, isn't it? It's disgusting.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Ekaterina failed to make the repayments on the new mortgage. I asked the finance company about this. They declined to comment. But I have seen evidence that they lodged a bankruptcy claim against her with the High Court. This was later dropped.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She has the luck of the devil. Every time things seem to go in her favour.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Is it luck? Yekaterina certainly appears to be an enormous risk taker. To take out a huge mortgage like this, which she can't or won't repay, and meanwhile going on a huge shopping blowout. Is Yekaterina creating a financial time bomb for herself at this point? Kicking the problems down the road,

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She plays a game of chess in her mind, I believe, and thinks, you know, four or five moves ahead. She's certainly not stupid. I don't think she's super highly intelligent. I think she is cunning enough, clever enough, manipulative enough and plausible enough to think far enough ahead to see what moves are likely to be thrown at her and then to avoid the consequences.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

So what does this mean for Bridget? In their settlement deal, Ekaterina said she would sell the apartment and use the proceeds to pay Bridget. And now that's off the table. After Yekaterina stopped paying the mortgage, the apartment was repossessed. Yekaterina is no longer its owner. For Bridget, it's a kick in the teeth. She's trying not to let these constant knockbacks get her down. Does she make you angry?

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I think at first. But again, I'm quite a relaxed, easygoing person. So I'm not saying I'm doing yoga every day, but I took it in my step when I realized I had to pursue her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

The other problem for Bridget is that Ekaterina is always backed by top flight lawyers and she appears to be instructing them to play hardball.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

It's like going into a gunfight. She's got it fully loaded. It's so crazy. If you behave like a normal person, you'll never win.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Just when it's feeling hopeless, Bridget realizes she has another card to play. Now that she has an official High Court judgment, she can also insist on Ekaterina appearing in court to be grilled under oath about her assets.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

So you can't lie. You go before the judge and you tell him everything that you've got and you can be questioned on.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Feels like the moment when things are going to have to get real. Ekaterina's woven a tangled web of stories so far, but now it's down to facts. Concrete assets, figures on bank statements. Bridget is optimistic that this will make a huge difference.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

This will sort everything out and get everything onto an even path and we'll be able to move on.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Whatever your Katarina says under oath, it could be extremely enlightening. And in Bridget's eyes, there's still one major asset to play for the Monaco apartment. This is now where they're pinning all their hopes.

[BBC Announcer]

At the BBC, we go further so you see clearer with a subscription to BBC.com and the BBC app, you get unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries from less than a dollar a week for your first year to read, watch and listen to trusted independent journalism and storytelling. It all starts with a subscription to BBC.com and the BBC app. Find out more at BBC.com unlimited.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

She took one look at me and started saying, no, no, no, she has to go, she has to go. I can't. She has to go.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Just two weeks after Daisy's reporting trip to Monaco, she's face to face with Ekaterina in a courtroom in London. Is the morning of 22 June, 2023, the assets hearing. Ekaterina is not happy to see Daisy in court and she's letting the judge and everyone else in the room know. As a reporter, Daisy is accustomed to some people not being happy to see her. But this specific reaction takes her by surprise.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

She started saying these extraordinary things, like she was taking photos up my skirt and I was just stricken because I just. Out of everything she could have said, I did not know vaguely what that could refer to. It took two or three minutes worth of her barristers, her lawyers sort of having hushed discussions with her, saying, come on, sit down, sit down, come down, come down.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

This appears to be Ekaterina's modus operandi. Launch a missile that makes people doubt anyone who crosses her.

[Daisy Graham Brown (Investigative Reporter)]

Well, certainly in the courtroom it had the effect of throwing a bomb because suddenly these barristers, everyone's. Their heads are whipped round to look at me. I don't think I said anything. I just made a face as if to say, what are you talking about?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Tensions are clearly high. If it feels strange for Daisy to see you, Katerina, again, I can't imagine how it feels for Bridget. Bridget and Ekaterina have been communicating via lawyers for so long and now they're in the same room. Is it jarring, intimidating? Re traumatizing? Bridget says it's none of those things because she doesn't recognize her.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

You're expecting this other person to come through. And when she does Come through, you think, who's that?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Bridget says Ekaterina looks much sterner. And she's also not used to seeing her with bright orange hair.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I think when I see her, I don't really see her because she's changed her appearance. She's like a chameleon. So it's not as if you are dealing with the person you first had all the trouble with.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

When they were spending time together, Ekaterina had a more natural look with brown hair loosely curled. Bridget finds that the new look helps her take a step back.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I don't get het up or anything because you're not in awe, but you sort of think, I can't believe it. Who is this person in front of me?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

How did she react to you? Did you make eye contact?

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

She sort of locks for a minute, but then she's like back on the. On the ball with the judge or whoever's talking.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

The hearing is about to begin. The judge starts addressing Ekaterina directly. He tries to reassure her. You don't have to worry, he says. All you have to do is answer the questions truthfully. Of course, Yekaterina says. Then she moves into the witness box. Bridget's barrister, James McWilliams, steps up to face her. And almost immediately, it becomes clear that Bridget is not going to get the clarity she hoped for. Yekaterina insists she has pretty much no money of her own.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

She has no money, she has no assets, basically doesn't know what we're sort of talking about.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Ekaterina says any money she spends comes from her family. What you're about to hear are the real words spoken in court, voiced by actors.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

So your family support you, but how much money, on average do they give you each month?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Money?

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Yes.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

I don't have money. I have everything. They give it to me. What money? What money? Money for what? Money for food? Yes, I have everything. I have delivery all the time, twice a week.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Well, who pays for that?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Who paid for this?

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Yes.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

My family. My brother.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

What? So he orders the food that you're going to eat? He orders the food that you are going to eat.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

He organize everything. He don't be concerned to do it. He have a lot of people who can organize my comfortable life.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Okay, so you never get transferred any money by anyone?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Sorry.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Your family do not transfer you money?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

My family paid all my expenses for everything. Whatever I need. Me and my dogs. It's also part of the family.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

I wish I'd been in court to hear this in person. But the court transcripts tell the story. It's a bizarre and evasive performance. She describes the cash her family sends as pocket money. Apparently they pay all her bills. Bridget's barrister tries to drill down on the practicalities of how this works. Does that mean they put money on Ykaterina's credit card? No, she says. She appears to be tying herself in knots.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

Here we go again. Here we go again. It is unbelievable.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Ekaterina is asked about the Monaco apartment. She now says that the apartment belongs to her brother.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

Absolute baloney. Absolute baloney.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

According to Yekaterina, her mother plays a key part in bankrolling her lifestyle. Bridget again is skeptical. She met the mother when she travelled to Israel with Yekaterina in 2018. She visited the flat where she lives in the coastal area of Netanya.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

It was just a very ordinary apartment, a little bit dark, you know, sort of built in the 1960s or 70s. And I must admit, when I saw that, I thought, this is unusual, you know, I expected a mum to be in a very nice, brightly lit white marble. I have been in people's homes who do have a lot of money and this didn't look like one of those homes.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Bridget stayed at a hotel on the Israel trip.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

They did serve a buffet sort of breakfast. So in would come her mum, I think two or two aunties, I'm calling them aunties. Two ladies.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

She just invited members of her family.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

Yeah. And they would get the buffet and Ekatrina probably didn't eat anything. And. And I know that the hotelier actually said, you know, this is not meant for da da, da, da. But guess what? Next day, in they come. She's got the gall, you know, it's like, oh, my goodness, how embarrassing is this? You cannot embarrass Ekatrina. You cannot. She puts herself in enough situations.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Back in the courtroom, Ekaterina continues to answer questions about who pays for her lifestyle. She seems to imply that her family tightly control her allowance because she had a difficult divorce and they want to protect their fortune. She also briefly mentions a wealthy boyfriend, but she doesn't name him. And she repeatedly refers to a Swiss family who she implies are benefactors. She says she often stays with the Swiss family. They pay for her plane tickets, they send a car to pick her up from the airport and they buy her lots of presents. And remember the Rolls Royce she was bragging about? She's asked about that too. Ekaterina admits it was bought on finance, but the payments haven't been made and the finance company has been chasing her. The Rolls Royce is in Switzerland, she says Somewhere with a friend. Maybe in Basel. She can't say where exactly. I mean, keeping tabs on your Rolls Royce is tough, right? Yekaterina says her Swiss lawyers are dealing with it. She's also lost track of the whereabouts of her Bentley. It was a Bentley that Bridget saw Ekaterina driving outside of Pandora Dress Agency the day that she agreed to dog sit for the first time. Bridget took it as one of the many hallmarks of her wealth back then. The barrister also asks Yekaterina about her spending.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Have you been shopping in Chanel or Hermes this year?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

In London?

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Anywhere. When have you bought anything in those shops this year?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

This year? No.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

What about last year?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

No.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Any other high end fashion house?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

No. I got some presents for my. My birthday. I got a lot of presents. I don't buy nothing from Chanel. I don't like Chanel anymore.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

What do you like?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

I like another branch.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Which one?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Marks and Spencer.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

If Chanel has fallen out of favor with Yekaterina, this must be relatively recent. Bridget's team has seen those credit card statements from 2021, two years earlier when Ya Katerina went on the huge shopping splurge in Paris. The barrister refers to those statements and asks her about one specific item. A haute couture dress bought from Chanel on 29 July 2021 for €62,000. It had been referenced in her affidavit or written statement.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

It was money from my brother or my mother. I don't remember. They paid to Chanel.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

But your affidavit here says I was only reminded of the value of the dress when reviewing my credit card statements. And of course they are in this affidavit.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Yes.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

So you must have paid for it yourself on your credit card.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

No, I didn't pay it myself.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

This is how it goes on and on, round in circles. English is not your Katarina's first language, so you have to give her some leeway. But the answers just aren't adding up.

[Bridget's Barrister (James McWilliams)]

Coming back to the cash anywhere in the world? How much cash do you have right now?

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Zero.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

The barrister says she previously provided a statement showing £79,000 in one account. That's gone. She says she's asked about the LUCA Trust. This is the trust she used to say was the source of her living expenses. According to Bridget, the one she allegedly said she couldn't access temporarily, leading her to ask Bridget for money at the start of all this. In the courtroom, she says she does not receive a penny from this trust. Yekaterina makes it sound like she's living almost hand to mouth. Bridget certainly doesn't believe that she only has a few euros in her pocket. Trust funds aren't always a sign of hereditary wealth. They can be set up for a number of reasons, including asset protection, tax planning and philanthropy. But people often associate them with family fortunes. Could Yekaterina's family be hugely rich, as she suggests? I don't know enough about them to be sure, but I have spoken to other people aside from Bridget, who've met Yekaterina's mother and father. They say they showed no signs of excessive wealth. They appeared middle class, living without luxuries. I know the couple, both believed to be from the USSR, separated long ago. Ekaterina's mother is now in her 90s and has lived in Israel for years. Her father moved to Munich. Various people have told me that they liked Yekaterina's mother, even though they didn't know her properly and couldn't communicate directly as she doesn't speak English. They have used adjectives such as sweet, kind, grandmotherly. The antithesis of Ekaterina. Said one I know Ekaterina has a stepbrother on her mother's side. He signed court papers for her giving his profession as a dentist. Is this the brother she says owns the property worth multi millions in Monaco? It's certainly possible, just as it's possible that her parents are masking their wealth. I'm trying to keep an open mind here, but Yekaterina is making it very hard.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I think when she was younger she had it tough. Probably a lot of people had it tough in certain parts of Russia or, you know, Russian like countries. And when she got out, I imagine she even hitched a lift out.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Bridget is now letting her imagination run wild. We don't know how Yekashrina left the USSR, but having been born there in the 1950s under communist rule, it's likely that her beginnings were modest.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

There was a bit of what I call a village girl in her, though. She used to like going buying her own vegetables in Monaco.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

I also know nothing about Yekaterina's teens or twenties or thirties.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I mean, I know she's quite educated. She could have been an engineer.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Ekaterina's profession on various official documents is listed as engineer. I understand that she has an engineering degree, but I don't know where she studied.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I believe, rightly or wrongly, that somehow she got into Monaco. She was a very young girl and I do remember bumping into a concierge guy stood at the door. I don't know if it was casino But a nice building, lots of steps going up to it in Monaco. And she said, he's known me the longest. He's known me for over. Since I was 18. She actually said that to him. And he was.

[Ekaterina Barrett (Actress-voiced)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

You know, And I remember thinking, I wonder why he knew her.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Do you think that's true, though? Because didn't she introduce you as like, oh, Bridget's my oldest friend.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

Yes, yes, she does. So, yeah, yeah, she could do that. But because it was off the cuff, I thought there might be a bit of truth in it.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Bridget's legal team are sure they can prove that Yekaterina has been lying in court. It's up to them to collate the proof and make their case to the judge. Roger says they had to narrow down their focus to the points that mattered. The ones they believe showed Yekaterina was masking her assets and making it difficult for Bridget to get her money back.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

You've lied umpteen times, but we're only going to pick out a specimen number of lies that we consider are so serious that the court must be made aware of them. And this was all about her ownership of her apartment.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

He means the apartment in Monaco. That's what they're going to home in on in their complaints. I'm reminded of something Bridget's lawyer, Philip Barden, said to me after the assets hearing. He was sure the judge was going to come down on Ekaterina.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

This is somebody who is serially dishonest. At some point in time, the roof falls in because you just tell too many lies.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Lying under oath brings consequences. It's contempt of court. And that in itself can bring a prison sentence of up to two years. I think back to the start of this story. According to Bridget and Roger, Ekaterina was trading on her credibility. She was surrounding herself with the right people, the bankers and lawyers. She was splashing cash in the casinos and on designer clothes. We know the Mayfair apartment was bought by her under her own name. She seemed like a successful, independent woman, but now what's going on? The narrative is falling apart. And that's totally Anya Katerina, because she's the one up there telling her story and it doesn't make sense. Bridget wants to know the truth so she can get her money back. And I want to know the truth, because as a reporter, this is maddening. The family fortune story just doesn't sound credible.

[Bridget (Loan Recipient)]

I think somewhere along the line, she has got a pot of gold and she knows that that never, never must she talk about it. I can't believe she's ran herself to the wire that she's got nothing but what's in her pocket?

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Is there a pot of gold? And if there is, where is it? Alongside, trying to prove that she lied in court, Bridget also desperately wants to find out the source of Ekaterina's wealth.

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[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Not long after the assets hearing, Roger is back at home in South West London, making a phone call. He feels he knows what to expect

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

if someone picks up a very hostile reception.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

He's been digging around as usual and he thinks he's identified the Swiss family Ekaterina mentioned in the court hearing. Her dear friends and benefactors. He's trying their phone number. A woman with a strong accent answers. She sounds roughly the same age as him, late 60s, maybe early 70s. Roger says he's calling on behalf of a friend called Bridget. He braces himself.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She said to me, oh, I wondered if we would ever hear from you.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger is taken aback. She doesn't sound at all hostile.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

I said, well, why? She said, well, we saw the article in the Daily Mail and we wanted to contact you after that because we have had a similar problem. We've lost an awful lot of money to Barrett ourselves.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger is astounded. The story she goes on to tell sounds so similar to Bridget's. A friendship that dramatically soured after Yer Katerina refused to pay back a large sum of loaned money.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She gave them a bit of the same story that, you know, I've got my money, but I can't touch it yet until this trust is sorted.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Roger says the woman tells him she had a husband who Yekaterina originally targeted. He's since died, but Roger recognizes the name. It's the man that Yekaterina said controlled her trust, according to Bridget, the one who became suddenly ill, causing Ekaterina to have cash flow issues and meaning she needed Bridget's help to pay her divorce lawyers. The widow says Yekaterina also spun similar stories to them. The result was devastating.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

She managed to get about three and a half million euros.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

The Swiss family don't want to be named and I know they launched their own Legal case against Ekaterina in Liechtenstein, suing her for 2.9 million Swiss francs, which is actually 3.1 million euros, or 2.2.7 million pounds. I have my jaw on the floor. Hearing how Yekaterina managed to get so much money out of yet more individuals. Roger was also shocked when he first heard Looked like Yekaterina was playing both the Swiss family and Bridget at the same time. Roger believes that she'd use the Swiss family's money to sustain her lifestyle in front of Bridgette. And she'd used Bridget's money to do the same in front of the Swiss family.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

They both thought there was something more power behind it all that looked like everything Ekatrina was saying was genuine. It gave substance to the financial side. Right. So it was very clever. And she can turn it on. She can be the most charming person on the planet.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Bridget, Roger and the Swiss family decide to come together behind the scenes and share intel. They all think that the key to getting their money back could lie in the Monaco apartment. Not long after Roger's phone call, the family invites him and Bridget to stay with them in Switzerland to chat more.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

It's lovely. Most beautiful views. Beautiful. Stunning. They're very modest people, but obviously incredibly wealthy.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

And then the Swiss family drops an even bigger bombshell. It's one that, when I hear it years later, will stop me in my tracks too. They say that they weren't the only people in their town that Ekaterina got close to. One of their wealthy neighbors had already been involved with her too, they say.

[Roger (Bridget's Friend and Former Estate Agent)]

So what we then discover is that Ekatrina has become entangled with a Belgian steel magnate. She had managed to get him to sign over 62 million euros, which I know makes no sense at all.

[Narrator (Vicki Baker)]

Wait, 62 million? Could this be how she got the ultra expensive home in Monte Carlo? Could this info help find them a way to wrestle it out of her hands? And ultimately, can any of this be true? Audacious is produced by Novel in association with BBC Studios. For more from Novel, visit Novel Audio. The show is written and produced by me, Vicki Baker. The assistant producer is Valeria Rocca. The editor is Philippa Goodrich. Our fact checker is Dania Suleman. Production management. From Sheree Houston, Charlotte Wolf and Joe Savage. Sound design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempson. Narration recorded by Nick Thackeray. Kron development by Sonny Maher, Jess Brown Swinburne, Anna Phelan and Willard Foxton. Additional production by Leona Hamid, Sacha Baker and Ziana Youssef. Our voice actor is Olga Betko. The series artwork is designed by Christina Lemkel. Our executive producer is Max o' Brien. For Audacious is a novel production for BBC Studios, the BBC's commercial subsidiary.