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The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam

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It was the biggest gold discovery in history…until it wasn’t

It was the biggest gold discovery in history…until it wasn’t. In 1995, Canadian mining company Bre-X announced to the world it had found a significant amount of gold deep in the jungles of Indonesia. Stock prices soared as investors worldwide fought to stake their claim. But when Bre-X’s chief geologist mysteriously fell from a helicopter over the jungle, the story of the billion dollar discovery began to unravel. Nearly three decades later, no one has ever been held accountable. Now, host Suzanne Wilton takes listeners from the jungles of Indonesia to small town Alberta, Canada, to investigate what really happened and find out more about the man behind the biggest goldmine fraud of all time. Produced for the BBC World Service and CBC by BBC Scotland Productions.

Please note, this series contains references to suicide and has some graphic content.

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The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam: 1. The fall

Factual

24/07/2024 GMT

1. The fall

BBC - The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam, 1. The fall

A body falls from a chopper into the jungle and smashes open a billion dollar secret

A body falls through the doors of a helicopter, down into  the dense Indonesian jungle. The death sends shockwaves around the world of gold mining. Did he jump? Or was he pushed?

Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman is the man of the hour. He’s responsible for one of the biggest gold discoveries in the world, deep in the Indonesian jungle. It’s a find that sends Bre-X stock prices soaring to stratospheric heights. So his apparent death — a dramatic fall from a helicopter flying to the gold site — sends shockwaves around the world. Did he jump? Was he pushed? But the days following his death will prove even more shocking.
 
Please note, this episode contains difficult subject matter, including references to suicide and death.
The series has references to suicide and some graphic content.

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The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam

1. The fall

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