Vicki Baker (Narrator/Reporter) (20:37)
Okay, so I can see the doorbell, the sort of intercom, the names, and I'm looking for Barrett. It's August 2025 and I'm standing outside Ekaterina's apartment block in Monaco. This is the multi million pound apartment we've heard so much about. The place that came to her via the Belgian steel magnate Leo Lomart. The place that Bridget has visited multiple times. This apartment has bought Ekaterina so, so Much credibility. Bridget had hoped at one point that the sale of this place would be the key to her getting her money back. But now that Ekaterina has missed the mortgage payments, it looks as though that's off the table. The apartment is set to be sold at auction. And with so many other people and institutions now pursuing Ekaterina for money, Bridget has been bumped down the list of creditors after, among others, EFG International. Remember the private Swiss bankers from EFG who Roger and Bridgette met for lunch at the brasserie? Remember they claimed one of the bankers offered them reassurance, saying Ekaterina Barrett was as rich as a Rothschild. Times have changed. EFG International are now pursuing Ekaterina Barrett for 10 million euros that they say she owes them. They provided the mortgage. EFG International declined to comment when I asked them about this. It's a very 70s 80s idea of luxury. I'm outside Yukatarina's apartment with our assistant producer, Valeria Rocker. It doesn't look crazy luxurious from the outside to me, but I imagine that inside is super nice. Yeah, the building has no luxury flourishes, really. It's sort of sandstone Y brick, big picture windows dotted around the building with kind of reflective glass. Valeria has been digging into this story alongside me and you can probably also hear literal digging. There's a huge tower going up in front of these apartments. It's not the most peaceful spot in Monaco, I'm sure. I'm not buzzing on the door right now. First, I want to give Ekaterina a chance to respond to a message I've sent. I think she's in town, but I can't be sure. My understanding is that she had to come back before the locks were changed. The bailiffs are due in 2023. Ekaterina put this apartment on sale. She listed it for 22 million euros, which I'm told is a figure that is highly ambitious. It didn't sell. If it had done, Brigitte would almost certainly have tried to make a claim on the money. I phoned a local estate agent here in Monte Carlo who told me this apartment block has always been known for being a bit dark on the inside and the area's newer buildings are now more desirable, given that Yekaterina has reportedly run it into a state of disrepair. Valuers have suggested it could now be worth 8 to 11 million pounds. In its favor is its location. It's in the Golden Square, which is a loose term used to describe any property in the vicinity of the Monte Carlo Casino. The place that's seen as Monaco's biggest draw. I've still got two gray tics on my WhatsApp message. Ekaterina doesn't seem to have read my text. I'm going to give her some more time to consider my request to talk. And the waiting time feels like a good opportunity to explore her world. I've never seen so many Lamborghinis in one place. They sit parked in a row directly outside the entrance of Monte Carlo Casino. They're all in garish colours, lime green and burnt orange. Many of them have customised number plates referencing superheroes and mythological beasts. This is my first time in Monaco. Despite what I've heard about it being a playground for the super rich and a renowned tax haven, I still wasn't quite prepared for the reverence of wealth, especially around Casino Square. This is Monte Carlo's heart. Throngs of tourists queue up to pass through security checks and get a glimpse inside the casino building. With its Belle Epoque, marble pillars and frescoed ceilings, it looks more like an opera house or a cathedral. I can't help but notice the bronze statue in the central atrium. A blindfolded woman carrying a horn of gold coins, which look like they're about to spill onto the floor. To me, it feels like a warning against gambling, but patrons apparently love it. They touch the gold coins for good luck. According to the sculptor, the statue is blind because you never know when good fortune arrives. And when it goes. It makes me think of Ekaterina, her risky approach to life, to money. Risks can pay off, or they can backfire on you spectacularly. By the next morning, Yekaterina still hasn't responded to my message, so we head back to her apartment block to see if we can catch her in person. It's 9am and the temperature's already rising. Our theory is if she's heading out for a walk, she might do it early, before it gets closer to 30 degrees. I don't hold out much hope. I wonder if she is inside, whether her glamorous standards have slipped. Maybe that's the reason for not coming out or replying. Or maybe she'll think I'm with the bailiffs. But then, through the greenery that surrounds the apartment complex, I spot what looks like a flash of bright red hair. And honestly, this is alarmingly instantaneous. I had imagined we'd end up waiting for hours, maybe entirely fruitlessly. Valeria and I raced down the hillside to the front of the building, still unpacking our microphones. It's her. Yekaterina Berrett. She's dressed in a long, bright white lace dress, wearing a full face of makeup and with a sun hat shading her face. She's standing with a woman who's dressed in what appears to be a black uniform. A nurse, perhaps, or some sort of home help. She's holding Ekaterina's arm. They both smile at me as I approach. Ekatrina hi. I wanted to speak to you. My name's Vicki Baker. I work for a podcast company. I can't broadcast Ekaterina's voice due to privacy laws in Monaco, but I can tell you she smiled openly at first before realizing I was press and saying a very firm no to interviews. Ekaterina and her companions start to walk away from me, arm in arm across the road. We have a lot of court cases at the moment. I try to call after her. She tells me she'll call the police if I follow her, so I stop still. But then, for a brief moment, she also stops in her tracks. We're now on opposite sides of a zebra crossing and she's smiling surprisingly warmly, considering she just threatened me with the police. She leans in, seemingly waiting to hear what I say next. Do you have any intention to pay back the debts that are outstanding? Do you have the money to do so? I'd love to know more about you. She turns to walk away, and then she's gone again, walking arm in arm through central Monte Carlo with the woman in black. That, I discover, is the noise I make as the woman I have so many questions for disappears out of view. From a reporter's perspective, it's a case of mixed feelings. I feel relieved to have found her and made my interview request in person, but it feels so frustrating to see her slip away again. We've come so far in unpicking her misdeeds across the decades and across Europe, we've built a picture of how she operates. But it still feels like there's so much I want to know about the bigger picture stuff, the stuff that's never discussed in a courtroom. Where did all this start, Yekaterina? Have you got any compassion for the people who say they've lost so much money to you? Do you get some sort of thrill from stealing and not paying bills? Where will you go next if you lose your apartment? And has it all been worth it? So we've made an approach. We've tried to to hear her side of the story. It was a. A very firm I don't want to speak. Which is disappointing. Valeria and I are debriefing on the pavement. There's a part of her that wants to talk. I don't know that for a fact. That's just the impression she gave me. And I do know that she likes attention. Like she stopped, she smiled a few times. She said she didn't want to speak, but she turned around to listen. Her eyes kind of slightly lit up when I first went down there. Like she's not averse to talking to people, to strangers. I think I might have glimpsed a flash of that magnetism, the hypnotic eyes that Bridget has spoken about. The way she locks into a gaze. I can imagine it can be quite powerful. I don't want to mythologize you, Katarina. There's a danger of that when you've heard so much about someone and you don't get the face to face time to truly understand them. I don't think I had much hope of a sit down interview where she would bare her soul. I'd hoped perhaps she might expand on the it's all lies comment she gave to the Daily mail back in 2023. But since then she's had criminal offences recorded in the UK and in Monaco. And she has so many legal troubles right now, including her battle to stay in the apartment, I'm not really surprised she's keeping quiet. When I get back to London, I email Yekaterina a full list of the allegations against her. I give her the opportunity to respond to what interviewees and sources have told me. We have gathered so many testimonies, all from different eras, jurisdictions and walks of life. Within a week, she emails back. She says the information gathered appears to rely on false and misleading information provided by hostile or malicious parties whose objective is to damage my reputation. The motivations behind this publication raise serious concerns about fairness, accuracy and responsible journalism. I offer her the chance to to provide further clarification or documentation to support her position. I don't hear back. I wonder, with debts mounting, theft convictions, lawyers chasing her for money and an eviction looming, is Ekaterina finally running out of road?
