Fraudacious

About Fraudacious

When London boutique owner Bridget Hutchcroft befriends a glamorous client at her Knightsbridge dress agency, she believes she has met a Russian socialite with vast wealth and powerful connections. Ekaterina Barrett glides through luxury apartments, London’s finest hotels and European high society dinners with unwavering confidence. Chauffeurs wait outside. Extravagant goods pile up. Money, it seems, is no object. Until it vanishes. Bridget generously lends her wealthy new friend more than a million pounds, but it proves to be a disastrous mistake. When Ekaterina refuses to pay the money back, Bridget’s loyal circle of friends step in. Journalist Vicky Baker joins them in a frantic search for answers. It turns out Bridget is not the only one claiming to be severely out of pocket thanks to the broken promises of her mysterious former friend. What follows is an international investigation stretching from London to Vienna, the Netherlands and Monaco. Courtrooms, casinos and opera houses all reveal fragments of an increasingly bizarre story. Witnesses describe charm turning into control. Court appearances descend into farce. Documents emerge that challenge everything Ekaterina has claimed under oath. At the centre of it all is a burning question. If Ekaterina now insists she owns nothing, who is funding the lavish life she continues to live? Fraudacious follows Bridget’s fight for justice as the legal battle intensifies and Ekaterina’s world begins to fracture while she continues to maintain her innocence. Each episode peels back another layer of performance, power, and deception, revealing how easily wealth can be manipulated and how devastating the cost can be for those who are lured in. This is a story about trust and illusion. About how the promise of wealth can be as potent as the real thing. And about whether the truth can finally catch up with someone who has spent a lifetime trying to stay one step ahead of everyone on her trail.

Publisher

Novel in association with BBC Studios

Category

society & culture · true crime

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Feb 2026

Latest episode

6 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Apr 2026

   Episode Six: House of Cards

   In Monaco, Ekaterina’s lavish lifestyle appears to be unraveling. Vicky heads to Monte Carlo to confront her, while Bridget makes a final push to recover what she’s owed.Is the game finally up?

2. 

   30 Mar 2026

   Episode Five: The Windfall

   The downfall of a European steel magnate may hold the key to Ekaterina’s mystery millions. Vicky travels to the Netherlands to unpick their tangled relationship. In London, Bridget seeks to prove that Ekaterina has been lying in court to cover her tracks.

3. 

   23 Mar 2026

   Episode Four: (Dis)order in Court

   Bridget’s case reaches London’s High Court, but Ekaterina’s bizarre witness box antics land her in deeper trouble. Meanwhile, Bridget’s best friend uncovers a bombshell document that could unravel the truth behind Ekaterina’s wealth.

4. 

   16 Mar 2026

   Episode Three: The Vienna Connection

   Vicky heads to Austria to investigate a hidden chapter in Ekaterina’s past and her connections to Viennese high society. A 95-year-old opera singer reveals that Ekaterina’s influence over her husband threatened to destroy their marriage.

5. 

   9 Mar 2026

   Episode Two: High Rolling

   Bridget discovers her new acquaintance is notorious across London’s Mayfair, especially in its exclusive private casinos.But is Ekaterina’s fortune real, or make-believe? Bridget enlists a lawyer and private investigator as she fights to get her money back.

6. 

   2 Mar 2026

   Episode One: Pandora’s Box

   Bridget strikes up an unusual relationship with a wealthy client at her dress shop. As Bridget is pulled more and more into Ekaterina’s world, her friends stage an urgent intervention. Journalist Vicky Baker explores the fallout which sparks an international hunt for answers.

7. 

   23 Feb 2026

   Introducing: Fraudacious

   A mysterious socialite accused of stealing millions sparks a wild international investigation stretching from London to Vienna, the Netherlands and Monaco. Journalist Vicky Baker searches for the truth about Ekaterina Barrett - a high flyer with a lavish lifestyle who, despite maintaining her innocence, is being pursued by a crowd of angry former friends and acquaintances who claim she’s defrauded them out of a staggering sum of money.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.2 / 5

131 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

149 ratings

Contact Fraudacious

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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