Alice Levine

You're welcome.

Matt, my love, my life, what do you have for me next time?

No comment.

Oh, my God, this is such a great story.

And then, of course, it ends with a... Don't ruin it.

Ah, OK, don't bite my head off.

From Audible Originals and Samizdat Audio, this is the fourth and final episode in our series, The Notorious Dr Crippen.

British Scandal is hosted by me, Alice Levine.

I've got a darkly comic but deadly tale to tell you.

This is a story about a lie.

A lie so big that it likely cost countless lives and turned con artists into multi-millionaires.

It's also about what happens when you're forced to confront that lie and destroy your oldest friendship.

At the centre of this story is Jim, gift of the gab wheeler-dealer turned mastermind of this audacious con, and his long-time pal and business partner, Steve.

This scam isn't like the ones that you've heard before, targeting vulnerable people.

This one fooled governments and security services around the world, people who should definitely know better.

Incredibly, Jim convinced them that a cheap golf ball finder sold as a stocking filler was in fact a world-class, life-saving bomb detector.

He used pseudoscience to fool extremely powerful people.

With bribery and corruption on his side, Jim made an obscene fortune.

I'm talking lavish homes, a yacht, even a house from Nicolas Cage.

Would you turn them in?