Episode Two: High Rolling

Summary

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Fraudacious — Episode 2: High Rolling

Date: March 9, 2026
Host: Vicki Baker
Podcast by Novel in association with BBC Studios

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Episode Overview

This episode of Fraudacious peels back the next layer in the complex case of the alleged con by “Russian socialite” Ekaterina Barrett. Centered on boutique owner Bridget Hutchcroft’s million-pound loss, journalist Vicki Baker unearths tales of manipulation, high society deception, and conflicting claims—unraveling a web of trust, illusion, and financial devastation. The investigation takes listeners from exclusive London casinos and Mayfair apartments to painful betrayals and courtroom showdowns, examining the costs of being drawn in by the allure of wealth and charm.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Ritz Club & Ekaterina’s Reputation

• [01:00]–[02:30]: Introduction to the Ritz Club Casino—an opulent, exclusive world.
  • Terry (former casino manager):

    “It was very, very ocular... That is, that's as good as it gets.”

  • Discovery that Ekaterina Barrett was one of his least favorite clients due to her difficult behavior.

Sona: The Skeptical Shop Manager

• [03:11]–[09:17]: Sona, Pandora Dress Agency’s manager, recounts early suspicions and her history of standing up to wrongdoing and shoplifting, drawing parallels to dealing with Ekaterina.
  • Sona:

    "I can't deal with, as they say, bad stuff."

  • Describes a hostile phone exchange with Ekaterina, Ekaterina’s attempts to isolate Bridget, and Sona’s role in challenging Ekaterina’s claims about supposed designer belongings.
• [06:12]–[09:17]: Sona thoroughly investigates Ekaterina’s counterclaim:
  • She cross-checked claimed items against shop records, disproving many, and highlights the mysterious chinchilla fur jacket (originally compensated for, then “lost”, then found).
  • Sona [08:21]:

    "Blatantly saying it's not mine is what made me go, that's not normal. And that's when I didn't trust her."

  • Concludes Bridget was indirectly "robbed" (“…taking the money, not paying any back. It’s still daylight robbery.”)

He-Said, She-Said and Counterclaims

• [09:42]–[10:58]: Vicki unpacks the legal back-and-forth:
  • Ekaterina, via her lawyer, reverses the narrative—claiming Bridget owes her over £1 million for luxury items.
  • Yekaterina’s lawyer (read by Vicki) [10:34]:

    "Ms. Hutchcroft began from time to time to make erratic demands that Ms. Barrett pay… sometimes dressing up these demands as requests for repayment of nonexistent loans..."

  • The list’s items seem hugely overvalued; the conflict grows more bizarre and unpredictable.

The Bridget–Ekaterina Friendship: Curious Beginnings

• [13:57]–[17:44]: Bridget’s home and character:
  • Quirky details (a ‘hunky man’ cushion), a modest flat, and an explanation that early friendship with Ekaterina felt unexciting—against the classic “love bombing” con approach.
  • Bridget [15:36]:

    “She goes there to be seen. She's sitting there with her mink coats and sable... She flitters. And then she's always got to go somewhere and then you find out all she's done is gone back to her apartment in Mayfair."

  • Moments of feeling uncomfortable and manipulated, yet unable to break away due to an inexplicable “hold” Ekaterina had on her.
  • Regret and confusion from Bridget:

    "I don't know. I don't know what power she had and I don't know how she made me do what I did, but she did." [17:23]

Psychological and Emotional Manipulation

• [17:44]–[21:18]:
  • Escalating requests for money—initially framed as short-term loans, then relentless pressure.
  • Bridget describes feeling uniquely responsible for Ekaterina’s well-being, exacerbated by her own vulnerability during a bipolar episode.
    • Bridget [19:03]:

      “…Just leave me alone. I’m not well.”
      (and acknowledging impulsivity and poor judgment at the time).

  • Bridget never kept precise records; only later did the magnitude of her financial exposure dawn on her.

The Trust “Carrot” and More Manipulation

• [21:42]–[24:08]: The promise of a Liechtenstein trust:
  • Ekaterina dangles the prospect of Bridget becoming a ‘trustee’ of her (purportedly vast) wealth to reassure her, but strings it to requests for more money.
  • Sona [23:07]:

    "And I went, ‘Don’t become a trustee.’ ...I was just trying to extort more money from her."

  • Both Bridget and Sona strongly reject the idea that Bridget was motivated by greed.
    • Sona:

      “She's quirky, but she's not. No, she's not greedy.”

Investigating Ekaterina’s Wealth: Fact or Fiction?

• [24:08]–[25:31]: Vicki seeks proof of property ownership; discovers official records confirming Ekaterina’s name on a £4.2 million Mayfair apartment purchased in 2014. Raises the lingering question: where did her money really come from, and why the behavior?

Testimonials: Staff and Casino Workers

• [26:05]–[29:37]: Steve the Mayfair concierge and casino staff:
  • Steve recounts Ekaterina’s notoriety for abusive, controlling behavior—not only towards him but also cleaners, drivers, and other staff (often not paying them).
    • Steve [28:20]:

      "It's as if someone... gets a buzz out of it. That's how it seemed."

  • Repeated stories of financial disputes and a kind of social “infamy.”

Ekaterina’s High Rolling at the Casino

• [30:58]–[34:25]: Terry’s memories:
  • Regular but not elite-level gambling (£10,000–£20,000 a night), behaviors that included attempts to delay payments and an air of unpredictability.
  • Not remembered for losing or winning big but for persistent rudeness, especially towards Russian-speaking staff.
    • Terry [32:38]:

      “She was so rude to everybody. ...She would say to the dealers in Russian, ‘You're fat, you're ugly, you're a slut.’ …Anything vile that she could say, she would say it."

  • No proof of outright crime in the casino, but many indications of “not straightforward” dealings.

“She Had So Much Control Over Bridget”

• [35:31]–[37:56]: The overall pattern:
  • Multiple sources—from casino managers to drivers to shop staff—describe pressure tactics, intimidation, explosive outbursts, unpaid bills, and sometimes superficial charm.
  • Steve (Concierge) [36:55]:

    "She knew exactly which buttons to push… She had so much control over Bridget."

  • Roger (Bridget’s friend) suggests a mix of charm and pressure techniques shaped Bridget’s behavior.

The Ongoing Fight & New Revelations

• [37:48]–[38:14]: Bridget’s determination to fight for justice, escalating to the hiring of a private investigator—and a critical new lead:
  • An old Vienna newspaper article and police mugshot of Ekaterina Barrett from 2004 surface, hinting at a long history of questionable dealings.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Daylight robbery." – Sona [09:31]
• "I don't know what power she had and I don't know how she made me do what I did, but she did." – Bridget [17:23]
• "She'd be like crawling up you almost, you know, I want this, I need money. And if she knew you had some, I would say she would squeeze it out of you." – Bridget [18:23]
• "She was so rude to everybody … Anything vile that she could say, she would say it to them." – Terry (casino manager) [32:38]
• "It's as if someone gets … a buzz out of it." – Steve (concierge) [28:20]
• "She's hoping to outrun me. The more she outruns, the more money I'm putting in... I'm not the type of person just to... lie down and die. I think, no, I'll fight her." – Bridget [37:48]
• “Once her name was mentioned, everyone sorted that grimace on their face.” – Steve (concierge) [29:09]

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Timeline & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic Description | | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 01:00-02:30 | The Ritz Club & Ekaterina’s casino reputation (Terry’s painful memories) | | 03:11-09:17 | Sona’s suspicions; investigating Ekaterina’s claims; chinchilla jacket incident | | 09:42-10:58 | Legal battle: Ekaterina’s counterclaim and shifting narratives | | 13:57-17:44 | Bridget’s home, unglamorous beginnings of her friendship with Ekaterina | | 17:44-21:18 | Psychological manipulation, Bridget’s vulnerability | | 21:42-24:08 | The elusive Liechtenstein trust and pressure for more money | | 24:08-25:31 | Evidence of wealth: Mayfair apartment ownership | | 26:05-29:37 | Testimonies from concierge, staff, and “infamy” in social circle | | 30:58-34:25 | Inside the Ritz casino: high rolling, check issues, abusive outbursts | | 35:31-37:56 | Control, manipulation, final fight; Roger and Steve’s reflections | | 37:48-38:14 | Bridget hires a private investigator; the 2004 Vienna mugshot surfaces |

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Conclusion

This episode deepens the mystery around Ekaterina Barrett—an enigmatic figure with a history of ostentatious living, manipulation, and controversy. Through the testimony of those in her orbit—shop managers, concierges, casino employees, and Bridget herself—a portrait emerges of a woman adept at generating trust, exerting control, and leaving a trail of conflict and financial woe. As the legal battle heats up and old secrets (like the Vienna mugshot) come to light, the central question lingers: Was Ekaterina genuinely rich, or was her opulent lifestyle just another deceit in a long line of cons?

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For further case developments, stay tuned for the next episode.

Transcript

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[Vicki Baker]

Fraudatious is a novel production for BBC Studios. Just next to London's Ritz Hotel, there used to be a separate entrance that took you down to a grand private casino, the Ritz Club.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

It was very, very ocular.

[Vicki Baker]

This is Terry, one of its former managers.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

Massive, big chandeliers, all beautifully decorated. Classical, you know, very, very classical. There was no expense bed. I mean, I've worked in a few casinos in Mayfair, but everyone that went in there said, oh, that is, that's as good as it gets.

[Vicki Baker]

It was also very exclusive.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

Not anyone can just walk in off the street. It's a private casino, so it's a members only club. So you can only come in if you're a member or a guest of a member.

[Vicki Baker]

And he did come across a customer called Yekaterina Barrett.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

Unfortunately, yes, I did.

[Vicki Baker]

I'm not on the trail of Yekaterina Barrett for long before I realize that she's upset more people than just Bridget Hutchcroft. By the time I get onto the story, Ekaterina has left London. But she appears to have left behind quite the reputation in my time in

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

the casino, she has got to be one of the worst people that I've probably ever dealt with.

[Vicki Baker]

I'm vicki baker and from novel. In association with BBC studios, this is fraudatious. Episode 2 high rolling.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Everyone bends the rules if they can, but if it's for good reason, I have no issues. But when you're doing something wrong, I'm like, ah, ah. Being a Hindu, I'm a calmer person. I can't deal with, as they say, bad stuff.

[Vicki Baker]

I'm back in Pandora Dress Agency. Bridget's Shop for second hand designer clothes in Knightsbridge. This time I'm here to talk more with Sona, the shop manager and the first person to sound the alarm about Brigitte lending money to a mysterious client, Yekaterina Barrett. Bridget is taking legal action because she says Ekaterina owes her more than a million pounds. But Yekaterina's got a different version of events. She is saying, actually, Bridget owes her more than a million pounds. She says this is to cover the cost of all the designer clothes she's entrusted to Bridget. It's quite the flex, but is it true? It feels like a battle of she said, she said at the moment, and I haven't yet got to grips with the details. Anyway, Sona and I haven't got onto all that yet. We're talking about bad karma and the thieves who used to target her dad's old corner shop in East London in the 80s and 90s.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Canning Town, Prince Regent Lane. Quite a roughish area.

[Vicki Baker]

Sona is wearing gold rim aviator sunglasses indoors. It's because she's been under the weather, but they make her look pretty badass, to be honest.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

When we were younger, someone took the till. Wow.

[Vicki Baker]

Just how does that.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Oh, it's just weird. He just came and said to my mum, I want that. And mum said, what? He went, nah. And he took the till and ran out.

[Vicki Baker]

As she got older, she started to confront the thieves.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Once, someone wanted a whiskey bottle and then he decided to say he's not going to pay and walk out. I just looked at him and said, what the f are you doing? And took it out of his hand. I think he was more shocked that I did that because he's 6ft and I was short.

[Vicki Baker]

So you're quite an assertive person.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

If I have to be. If I have to be. If it's fight or flight, I would say, depending on the situation, I' ma fight.

[Vicki Baker]

Sona never had much time for Ekatrina. She remembers a day when she took a phone call from her back in

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

2018, when she phoned, and this is after she's befriended Brigitte, she phoned the shop and said something and I said, you don't talk to me like that and put the phone down. And that's when she asked Brigitte to fire me.

[Vicki Baker]

Sona believes this was a tactical move by Ekaterina to keep Bridget under her control. She thinks she was trying to turn Bridget against her colleagues and her best friend Roger, so she could access more and more money without interference.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

She would say, roger doesn't care about you. Why are you listening? Things like that.

[Vicki Baker]

It's now seven years since that phone call and Sona's still here. Very much not fired. Sona is working the front desk today, just as she was when Yekaterina sent her first written response to Brigitte's legal case in 2020. The one where Yekaterina claims Bridget actually owed her money. Sona remembers it clearly.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

So she sent Hojlodorff pictures of bags, mink jackets, coats, watches, everything.

[Vicki Baker]

These were the high value designer items that Yekaterina claimed were in Brigitte's possession.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

So basically she said, I do not owe Brigitte any money back because she has all these goods of mine.

[Vicki Baker]

Yekaterina said Brigitte had used the friendship and taken advantage of her good nature to gain possession of hundreds of valuable items.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

So she was trying to get out of paying up.

[Vicki Baker]

This is when Sona was called in to help. Before Sona worked at Pandora, she spent 11 years working in a civilian role for the City of London Police, where, among other things, she helped analyze CCTV to catch speeding drivers. So when this list landed, she went through it closely, cross referencing every item with the shop's accounts.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Luckily, we had taken some pictures of some items for the website and I could match them up.

[Vicki Baker]

Just a quick explanation of how Pandora Dress Agency works. Clients bring in their second hand designer gear for the shop to sell. Pandora takes a commission if they're sold and if not, the goods are returned. This necessitates good record keeping.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I said, look, she's been paid for this. Look, she's been paid for this. We've never had this. Look, she's been paid for this.

[Vicki Baker]

And what also instantly catches Sona's eye is a chinchilla fur jacket.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I said, oh, this is interesting, Bee, this is that jacket.

[Vicki Baker]

Sona says it was an item that Yekaterina had bought in for Pandora to sell. But then she issued a complaint because it got lost. This happened about a year before Brigitte and Ekaterina started spending time together. But Bridget, as the shop owner, was the one who issued a compensation payment.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I think around 5,000.

[Vicki Baker]

£5,000. It seems like a generous payout, but also reasonable, isn't it, for Yekaterina to ask for compensation for a lost item. The problem, according to Sona, was is that sometime afterwards the coat was found in a box in the storeroom. And Sona says that when Yekaterina was told about this, she flatly denied the jacket was hers.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I was like, oh, that's a bit odd. Why would she do that? I mean, even if she Said, I'm sorry, I'm not going to give you the money back. I would have been fine with that. But blatantly saying it's not mine is what made me go. That's not normal. And that's when I didn't trust her.

[Vicki Baker]

And here was that same troublesome jacket again. Ekaterina is now saying it is hers and she's listed it in her counterclaim. I've seen photos of this jacket. It's a distinctive cut, striped gray, white and black. And Yekaterina is now also saying it was worth much more. £25,000. I suggest that Yekaterina does have a lot of clothes and it could have been a genuine mistake. But Sona is not buying that.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Made me go something dodgy.

[Vicki Baker]

And besides, she says she's unpicked too much other false information on the list. Sona made a note of her findings.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I just put it on the spreadsheet, sent it off to the lawyers.

[Vicki Baker]

I can tell Sona is still infuriated about it all. I ask her why.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I just thought it's wrong for Bridget to be robbed the way she's been robbed.

[Vicki Baker]

He felt like she was robbed.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Yeah, indirectly. She was not at gunpoint, but still, robbery is robbery. Taking the money, not paying any back. It's still daylight robbery.

[Vicki Baker]

One thing is for sure. This is playing out just as Bridget's lawyer predicted. He had warned Bridget, when you start a case like this, you never know how the other side will retaliate. And you have to be prepared for any other counter narrative. I'm still quite new to this story. When I meet Sona, I can see why she's so indignant along with Bridget and Roger. But I also know it's my job to counterbalance their anger, to keep allowing Yekaterina the benefit of the doubt, to try to imagine what her side of the story might be. When I get back to my desk, I read Yekaterina's counterclaim in full. It certainly turns what I've heard so far on its head. In the case of Bridget Hutchcroft vs. Yekaterina Barrett, it says, Regrettably, since around

[Yekaterina Barrett's Lawyer]

mid-2019, the once friendly relationship between Ms. Barrett and Ms. Hutchcroft deteriorated. Ms. Hutchcroft began from time to time to make erratic demands that Ms. Barrett pay to her substantial sums of money, sometimes dressing up these demands as requests for repayment of non existent loans, coupled with lurid personal allegations against Ms. Barrett,

[Vicki Baker]

certain details from Brigitte's side of the story are not disputed. That Bridget dog sat for Ekaterina that Ekaterina was going through a tough time amid a divorce and that Ekaterina and Bridget travelled overseas together on numerous occasions. And on comparing both women's version of events in their legal statements, it is agreed that these trips weren't all expenses paid. Invites from Yekaterina. But Yekaterina also refers to a host of false allegations and vexatious attempts to undermine her credibility. She denies boasting about her wealth. She claims she only ever said she owned one apartment in Mayfair. She denies sending Bridget to view multi million pound flats for her in Grosvenor Square. She says Bridget went of her own volition. As I look through some of Yekaterina's claims in more detail, some are extraordinary. She accuses Bridget of having hundreds of her possessions, but she only lists 39. And the prices for those 39 items appear to be enormously inflated to reach the grand total of 1.7 million pounds. Ekaterina says Bridget never loaned her any money at all. The more I hear about Ykaterina, the less I understand her. She's baffling and incredibly unpredictable. I want to know more about her and I want to hear Bridget's account of how the requests for money escalated so quickly and so exorbitantly. The allegation from Brigitte's legal team is that Yekaterina put Bridget under duress. How and how am I going to disentangle this web of accusation and counter accusation to find the truth? I need to hear more from Bridget herself.

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In 15 minutes, he's in an ambulance, unconscious. In 15 years, he's a billionaire.

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This is Toto Wolff, Formula One's most powerful team boss and the breakout star of Drive to Survive.

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[Bridget Hutchcroft]

Do you want to sit? Where should we sit?

[Vicki Baker]

Bridget lives In a small one bed flat near her business, Pandora Dress Agency in Knightsbridge. The apartment is modest and homely on the inside with bulging bookshelves and a big comfy armchair in the corner. Oh, and there's also an oversized cushion of a hunky man taking up half her sofa, which I feel I need to know the story behind before we go on. She tells me he's an old flame from her 20s. He is.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

He's so good looking.

[Vicki Baker]

But how come he's on a cushion?

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

Oh, because I like looking at it.

[Vicki Baker]

But did you make the cushions?

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

Oh no, no, no. I went to one of those photo shops, you know, and then they made it. But I like looking at him.

[Vicki Baker]

Sadly, I'm not here to talk about 1980s love affairs. I wish I was. I want to know more about the nature of Bridget's friendship with Yekaterina Barrett in the early stages, before everything went so badly wrong. In my experience, stories that involve losing money to an apparent multi millionaire often start the same with a person being wined and dined to the max to pull them in. Bridget has already told me that the relationship never felt like that.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

She doesn't go anywhere, she doesn't walk, you know, she's like really boring. You'd be glad to go out and get a coffee or something.

[Vicki Baker]

I can't help wondering if their relationship really was as joyless as Bridget suggests or if the passage of time and all that followed has turned everything into a bad memory. It feels a bit contradictory to say she didn't go anywhere when we know there were lots of overseas trips. But I think what Bridget means is there wasn't an action packed itinerary of fancy restaurants and social events. Bridget says if they did go to a bar together, such as Harry's bar in Mayfair, it felt as though they left as soon as they arrived.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

So she goes there to be seen. She's sitting there with her mink coats and sable and look who I am. She moves away a bit like a butterfly. She flitters. And then she's always got to go somewhere and then you find out all she's done is gone back to her apartment in Mayfair.

[Vicki Baker]

And when she's taking you to a bar for that brief amount of time, what's going through your head? Because you're thinking. Normally when I come out for a drink with my friends, we sit down and we get into stuff.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

Yeah. I began to think this isn't normal.

[Vicki Baker]

You know, Brigitte says that on one of their trips to Monaco she accompanied Ya Katrina to The bank, the offices of private Swiss bank EFG International in a palatial old building in the heart of Monte Carlo. Bridget remembers sitting in the back room with one of the greyhounds waiting when Ykatrina comes storming out.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

She was shouting all the I don't like this. You've done this and you've done that. And the guy said. And she said, I'm not dealing with you anymore. Come. And then she waltzed out of the room and I waltzed out and then I forgot the dog. I had to run by and say, I'm sorry, I got the dog, you know, out we go. Walked down the road about five minutes. And she said, we'll wait here. I said, here? She said, yeah, he'll ring me in a minute. And he did. Invited her back.

[Vicki Baker]

Bridget feels that this, whatever it was, was a move, an act.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

I was actually feeling a bit uncomfortable. I wish I didn't have her around, you know, that's what I was thinking.

[Vicki Baker]

So what was it that made Bridget stick around? She's told me before that a big part of it was curiosity. But it sounds like Ekaterina had some sort of hold over her too.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

I mean, if you say now, do you regret what you did? Yes, 100% I regret. And if I sort of question myself and think, well, why did you do it? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what power she had and I don't know how she made me do what I did, you know, but she did.

[Vicki Baker]

I want Bridget to talk me through exactly what happened when the requests for money were gathering. Pace, what did Ekaterina say to her? According to Bridget, Ekaterina used to moan and plead when they spoke on the phone.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

Please, Bridget, can you come down and come and see me?

[Vicki Baker]

Bridget says she genuinely felt like Yekaterina was in a difficult situation and a short term loan wasn't a big deal. But over time, the requests became relentless.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

She'd ring and ring and ring and ring.

[Vicki Baker]

Bridget said she was made to feel like only she could help.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

I tried to block it out, but she'd just be always it's like, oh, you're my last chance.

[Vicki Baker]

You'd like.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

She'd be like crawling up you almost, you know, I want this, I need money. And if she knew you had some, I would say she would squeeze it out of you.

[Vicki Baker]

By this point, Bridget had been spending time with Yekaterina for several months. She said the pressure started to feel overwhelming.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

I was at the time not under full medication for dealing with my bipolar. So I was, like, going a bit out of control.

[Vicki Baker]

People experience bipolar disorder differently, but it can be linked to impulsivity and poor financial judgment during manic episodes, which is what Bridget said she was experiencing in this time frame.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

And I said, no, just leave me alone. I'm not well. Just leave me alone.

[Vicki Baker]

And you were open with her that you were not in a good place.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

I'd already said to her, I said, I take medication for bipolar.

[Vicki Baker]

I know. Yekaterina disputes this. She has said via her lawyers that she was aware Bridget was depressed, but not that she was bipolar. Bridget has since got on different medication and she says she's in a much better place. But at the time, she said she felt trapped, like she couldn't say no. So she kept handing over her money.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

I never even thought she might not give me back, or if I did, I thought, just get her out of my. You know, get out of my hair, you know?

[Vicki Baker]

And Bridget says she wasn't keeping full track.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

The thing about bank accounts and credit cards, you're not aware. The same if she said, I want cash. £100,000 in cash. As you're counting it, you're thinking, oh, this is a lot of money. But when it just goes from one

[Vicki Baker]

bank to another in business, you must have said no to people all the time.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

Yeah, yeah. It's just really weird. And she creates this havoc around you, so in the end, you just. I don't know why I just said, okay, okay, I'll help you.

[Vicki Baker]

One thing I've learned from Sona and also from Roger is that Bridget has an uncommonly generous personality. I don't just mean picking up a tab for drinks or sponsoring a friend's run. I hear she does things like spontaneously give £25,000 to a local horse sanctuary while on holiday or inviting homeless people to stay on her sofa. Sona tells me that sometimes Bridget has lent money and not got it back,

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

but there were small amounts, so you can just deal with it.

[Vicki Baker]

What's the small amount?

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Couple of thousands.

[Vicki Baker]

Yeah.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I mean, it's not like what she

[Vicki Baker]

did this time, but from what Sona says, some decisions have left her friends concerned, as she's also helped a few bad apples along the way.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Sometimes say to Bridget that you help people you shouldn't help, but the people you should help, you don't always help. Explain. She can't. She can't even answer it.

[Vicki Baker]

I'm beginning to recognise certain characteristics in Bridget. She has an unorthodox and unconventional edge. We already heard about the Young Bridget, who let animals out of the abattoir. It sounds like Ekaterina may have tapped into Brigitte's generous side, but at a time in Bridget's life when she was less in control than usual. So it all escalated a perfect storm. When she looks back today, Brigitte believes she was being expertly manipulated by Ekaterina. And when Brigitte expressed doubt, Yekaterina pushed back.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

She even said to me, what do you want to see? I've shown you my apartments. My mother's met you.

[Vicki Baker]

Yeah.

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

She's like, yeah, everything's going to be okay.

[Vicki Baker]

Bridget says that after the loan started spiraling and once she started to ask for her money back, that's when Yekaterina suggested she became a trustee in that huge private wealth fund that she claimed she had, the one based in Liechtenstein, which was temporarily inaccessible. Bridget now believes the offer was another tactic to make the arrangement feel more secure. But Bridget says Yekaterina then asked her for more money to seal the deal. And that's when Bridget said, no, I

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

just want my money back. That's what I said. I'm not interested in making money. Certainly didn't want to be part of a trustee.

[Vicki Baker]

As I walk back onto the streets of Knightsbridge, I add that to my mental to do list. Find out more about this trust. Was this a real thing from which Yekaterina had an endless supply of wealth, or was it all a lie? Is she really rich at all? Back in Pandora, I asked Sona, as Bridget's right hand woman, did she hear about it at the time when Bridget was trying to get her money back?

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She took. No. She mentioned everything about the trustee. Everything.

[Vicki Baker]

Sona also remembers the point where Bridget says she was asked for more money to do the paperwork.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

And I went, ah. And I went, don't become a trustee.

[Vicki Baker]

Then.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

I was just trying to extort more money from her.

[Vicki Baker]

It feels like it's being dangled as a bit of a carrot in front of Bridget that there is a reason for staying in contact. That is you will personally get your money back. Is it get your money back or is it beyond that you're becoming this trustee to actually a woman who's potentially a billionaire or multi millionaire?

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Yeah. And then she goes, oh, don't worry, I leave everything to your grandchild as well.

[Vicki Baker]

Do you think there was some sort of motivation emotionally with Bridget, that she thought this relationship would be beneficial to me financially?

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

No, Bridget's not like that. Bridget is not like that at all. She's a helper. She's not a taker.

[Vicki Baker]

And you've. You've seen that in.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Yeah, I've seen it in Bridget. She's quirky, but she's not. No, she's not greedy.

[Vicki Baker]

So it was just. The motivation was just trying to get her money back.

[Sona (Shop Manager)]

Yeah.

[Vicki Baker]

Going on Bridget's account, it seems like Ekaterina was stringing her along, convincing her that things would come good. Does that make her a faker? Someone just pretending to be rich? And what about this Mayfair lifestyle and the fancy apartment that Bridget visited multiple times? Was she renting it or had she got mates rates from the owner? Maybe. The UK land registry holds official property records. It might lead to some clues. The Mayfair apartment is listed. The price paid on 2 June 2014 was 4.2 million pounds. The legal owner is Ekaterina Elizarovna Barrett.

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[Vicki Baker]

Remember the first time you met her?

[Steve (Concierge)]

I couldn't forget, really.

[BBC Advertiser]

Ye.

[Vicki Baker]

Steve is the concierge at Ekaterina's Mayfair apartment. He's a jovial, salt of the earth type. He's been working at this block for 10 years and he loves it.

[Steve (Concierge)]

It's a pleasure to come and work, really. Not many people can say that, can they?

[Vicki Baker]

Ykaterina, he says, was less of a pleasure.

[Steve (Concierge)]

It was like looking after 10 people, not just one.

[Vicki Baker]

You know, she doesn't live here anymore, but when she did, he said he got used to her yelling down the phone, wanting everything done immediately and before anyone else.

[Steve (Concierge)]

Steve, where's my delivery? I go, I don't know. As if it's my fault that her delivery ain't come. Like, you know, sort of thing. And another 20 minutes ago, where's my delivery? Where's my delivery?

[Vicki Baker]

I wasn't sure if Steve would speak to me when I contacted him. He's agreed on condition that I make it clear he would never normally speak publicly about residents or even ex residents. Yekaterina is the sole exception, and as we talk, he tells me why. He could handle her attitude. He says, but what he couldn't handle was how she treated people who worked for her. He says the day that really sticks in his mind is when a young girl came to the front desk, her body heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably.

[Steve (Concierge)]

She was only 20 odd young girls. She said, she's not paying me.

[Vicki Baker]

She was a cleaner from Russia or Ukraine, he thinks, and she just spent hours cleaning Ekaterina's apartment.

[Steve (Concierge)]

I said, what's she about? I don't know. I've done all the work. She says, you're not going to pay me.

[Vicki Baker]

Steve says he confronted Ekaterina.

[Steve (Concierge)]

I ran and knocked on the door, said, well, what are you doing?

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

Why aren't you paying?

[Steve (Concierge)]

And that's when she's like, steve, mind your own business. That sort of, you know.

[Vicki Baker]

He says this happened on multiple occasions, although this particular young woman's face sticks with him, as she was the most upset. He also tells me that Ekatrina used to book drivers to take her to the airport and they'd agree a price, but then she'd pay them less on arrival. He says he repeatedly witnessed disputes over money. I don't know.

[Steve (Concierge)]

It's as if someone gets like a. Seems to get a buzz out of it. That's how it seemed.

[Vicki Baker]

Steve keeps shaking his head in disbelief and these allegations are odd. Why does she seem so reluctant to pay people like cleaners and drivers? The classic high society scam is when a poor person pretends to be rich. And that could be the case here. But the more time I spend on this story, the more I start to wonder if there's a flip side and we could be dealing with a rich person pretending to be poor. The pieces of the puzzle aren't quite adding up. I'm wondering, is accumulating money the goal or is it more about control? Does she get a thrill from not paying money she owes? I'm getting the sense she was quite notorious here in Major would be the words.

[Steve (Concierge)]

Yeah, notorious, yeah. Everyone knew her, but for the wrong reason, bad reasons. Once her name was mentioned, everyone sorted that grimace on their face.

[Vicki Baker]

I tell Steve my goal is to find out who Yekaterina really is and where her money comes from.

[Steve (Concierge)]

Need a Good submarine, I think. To get.

[Vicki Baker]

Steve suggests I talk to the doorman at the casino nearby. He says they all know her. Mayfair casinos are a far cry from Vegas. You can walk past many of them without realizing they're there. Many of them are within elegant townhouses with discreet branding, perhaps a door canopy or a gold lettered flag. They are highly unlikely to be marked casino outside. Let's face it, this is where the ultra wealthy come to throw their money around. Behind closed doors there aren't going to be any attention seeking flashing lights. So I know I'm trying my luck when I start asking tailored doormen for insight. Excuse me, sorry. Do you know a woman called Yekaterina Barrett? The doorman pulls a look of disgust as he nods. It's that grimace Steve told me to expect. Horrendous, he says, but I don't get much more. This is a tight lipped world. The doorman won't speak into the microphone, but I do have a meeting with a man who will. So I jump on the tube to the other side of London. I'm heading to the far southwest, Wimbledon, and a no frills local pub.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

She used to come in once a month, or once every couple of months.

[Steve (Concierge)]

Months.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

She used to play blackjack. Sort of a 10 to 20,000 pound player.

[Vicki Baker]

Terry is retired, but he spent years managing the Ritz Club casino before it closed in 2020. That's in a night. 10 to 20,000.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

She could gamble that in a night. Yeah, which sounds like a lot of money, but we wouldn't even pay much attention to that, to be perfectly honest. It's not big money.

[Vicki Baker]

The big deal players gamble millions, he says. Sometimes even a million in one night. Terry says he's seen that on many occasions. This feels like a parallel universe, and this also strikes me as a very different Ekaterina to the one we've seen so far. Instead of holding money back, she's spending it like water. Terry is talking about a time a few years before Ekaterina and Brigitte met, roughly between 2008 and 2014. I'm not sure if Yekaterina was still gambling when Bridget was loaning her money in 2017. The cash flow problems may have been real by then, but if so, that's an interesting trajectory from splashing out to urgently borrowing. And where was the cash coming from when she was gambling? 10-20,000 pounds a night May not sound like much to the Ritz Club, but it seems like high rolling to me. Was she a good player?

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

I don't remember her being A good or a bad player? I don't think she was a bad player, but I couldn't even tell you whether she was a winner or loser overall.

[Vicki Baker]

So what is it that makes Ekaterina stand out so clearly in his memory?

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

She was so rude to everybody. We used to have a lot of Eastern European dealers that spoke Russian and she used to say things to them in Russian and she was, oh, it was awful. Oh, she used to say, you're fat, you're ugly, you're a slut. Anything vile that she could say, she would say it to them. And the dealers used to say, take me off the table, take me off the table. Obviously you get some people that get very upset and I don't blame them, you know, because she was very, very rude.

[Vicki Baker]

Terry also remembers witnessing her shouting and screaming at an assistant manager, her voice carrying across the casino floor.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

And in most industries it would be totally unacceptable, but they've just put up with it, you know, the money that a lot of the time she wasn't saying it in English, so she could deny that she said it. Do you know what? Casinos, years ago, you could virtually go in and do and say anything. Seriously, money talks. And over the years in casinos, money has spoken and people have been awful.

[Vicki Baker]

So despite her apparent outbursts, did you catch arena end up settling her bills at the casino? Terry's not aware of any non payments, although he does recall her making things difficult.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

She always used to use a check to buy in with.

[Vicki Baker]

That's the amount of money you initially put down to start playing.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

And there was always problems with her not wanting us to bank the check and she was always trying to, oh, can you bank it on a different day? You know, it was always something that she was trying to do, but I don't remember of doing anything illegal or anything fraudulent.

[Vicki Baker]

That's vital to note. Not illegal, but not straightforward. Terry knows about Bridget's case. It turns out they had a mutual friend, Kevin, who he played golf with

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

probably about four or five years ago. He was telling me about Bridget and how she'd lent a lot of money to a woman. I just said, what's her name? Not expecting him to say anyone that I knew. And he said, ekatrina Barrett. I said, you're joking. Well, Bridget has lent her X amount of money, like million pounds. Said, yeah. He said, do you know her? I said, of course I know her. She's the most awful woman. Why would she do that? He said, oh, well, she was to flew her to Monaco, she took her here, she told I said, I cannot believe. I said, if you don't believe me, ring up mutual friend of ours that was also a manager of the casino. I said, ring him up and just asked what he thinks of us. And Kevin rang up and this person said, ah, why would. No, you just would not trust her at all. But it was just the sort of person that you just would not want to be involved with.

[Vicki Baker]

You know, it's still baffling that a woman with such a bad reputation could have got around someone like Bridget. But Terry says Yekaterina was complex.

[Terry (Former Casino Manager)]

She had that personality where she could be absolutely dreadful, but if she wanted something, she could be very friendly. But the nasty was 90% and the nice was 10%.

[Vicki Baker]

I leave the pub with plenty to think about. Through word of mouth, Internet searches and roaming around Mayfair, I find multiple people who work for Ekaterina, all on an informal basis. And the same patterns start to emerge. Constant phone calls that feel like harassment. A feeling of giving in to demands against better judgment. People who say they weren't paid for work and ultimately gave up chasing their money. And people who found themselves on the receiving end of explosive outbursts that left them feeling frightened. I feel like I need to roll back on some of my preconceptions about the Bridget and Yekaterina dynamic. When I first heard this story, I imagined that Ekaterina launched an all out charm offensive on Bridget. The friendship equivalent of love bombing. There may have been some of that. Bridget's friend Roger feels that that could have been the first step to get what she wanted.

[Steve (Concierge)]

I know for a fact that she can be this charming, charming person. She knew exactly which buttons to push as well. That was the other awful thing. She had so much control over Bridget.

[Vicki Baker]

It seems like intimidation tactics could also have been a big factor here. Pressure and urgency, these are also techniques that con artists can use. They prevent victims from thinking critically. But is Yekaterina actually a con artist? Bridget's sure she is. But can she prove it? She's determined to. After Ekaterina responds to Bridget's legal challenge by claiming she's the one who's actually owed money, Bridget fights back. She's preparing to go to trial if it comes to it. If no settlement can be agreed, I

[Bridget Hutchcroft]

think she's hoping to outrun me. The more shout runs, the more money I'm putting in. I'm not the type of person just to think, oh, you know, lie down and die. I think, no, I'll fight her. And I mean, I just remembered some of the last words she said. To me where you know, if you ever ask for this money again, if you take 100 years. Well, let's take 100 years then.

[Vicki Baker]

If the case does come to trial, Bridget wants to be sure she knows everything about the woman who she's up against via her legal team. Bridget's hired a private investigator, and now they've got a lead. It's an old newspaper article from Vienna in 2004, and at its center is a police mugshot. The black and white photograph shows a woman frowning intently at the camera. Her eyes are downturned, her expression could not be more glum. It's unmistakably Ekaterina Barrett. Fraudatious 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 Suleiman. Production management from Cherie Houston, Charlotte Wolf and Joe Savage. Sound design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempson. Narration recorded by Nick Thackeray Cron development by Sonny Marr, Jess Brown Swinburne, Anna Phelan and Willard Foxton. Additional production by Leona Hamid, Sasha Baker and Ziana Youssef. The series artwork is designed by Christina Lemkel. Our executive producer is Max o'. Brien. Craudatious is a novel production for BBC Studios, the BBC's commercial subsidiary.