Two Steps East with private detective P. "Konrad" Smith
Episodes
26 episodes
Two Step East on CEE crime realities--from gangsters to Bulgarian casino mobsters (i.e. the Skull winning in court) to KYC re Swiss bankers and Companies House to a massive child pornography bust; and is your neightborhood as safe as you think?
Yes, after a two-week hiatus (sorry, but sometimes your man in the field has to be... erm in the field) Two Steps East is back with your favorite consulting detective and the following topics: letters (and thanks for writing in); just how...
Two Steps East on tourist scams, including the toss-the-baby scam, bankomat/cash machine games; the nephew/niece number; doping-the-drinks scams; strange links; bordellos, strip bars and more...
By listener request: this week Two Steps East (lite) and your preferred consulting detective in CEE, P. Konrad Smith, run through the "real" scams that hit tourists in the region as well as "new-kid-on-the-block scams," which seem to nag foreig...
Two Steps East: the week, including low level gang crime; mobsters and the war in Ukraine; cocaine and Darko S. in the Balkans; the Albanian KLA pizza story; the bogus Kherson bomb link; Serbia woes; boxing, the vory and the Kinahans
In this episode Your Preferred Consulting Detective in CEE covers low-level gangster crime returning to the region (currency exchange hits and more); more on MEK in Albania; the death of a Polish arms smuggler in Albania (and how he ripped off ...
More murder and mayhem in CEE--i.e. Central European politics, spy arrests, money laundering busts, a cyber war between Albania and Iran... and possibly a break in the de Vries murder investigation
This week's Two Steps East podcast packs a lot into multiple punches, with a quick run through of Latvian, Bosnia and coming Bulgarian elections; breakthroughs and arrests in Peter de Vries murders case (with possible ties to a cocaine super ca...
Russian perturbations: mobilization and the Ukrainian war--plus the Serbian conundrum; BiH-Russian Dodik games, not to mention the "chronic" suicides among Russian oligarchs
Greetings and salutations! In this episode your favorite consulting detective (in Central Europe) finds himself reeling from Russia's spur of the moment partial (or is it full?) mobilization; the nuclear threat and more. Plus we'll get into the...
Balkan cocaine violence: the murder of Skaljari crime boss Jovan V. and what it means for Montenegro and Europe
Yes, it's the return of Two Steps East and your No. 1 consulting detective in Central Europe, P. Konrad Smith, and let's just say this episode starts and ends with a bang--that is with the assassination in Istanbul this week of Montenegrin Skal...
Two Steps East special series (PART 3): How the Vory v Zakone/Thieves-in-Law, the Russian Mafia, mysterious spymasters and business all ran afoul of the Spanish police... and why this matters in EU politics
In a special Two Steps East series, CEE private detective/risk intelligence expert and investigator Preston Smith examines the history of the Thieves-in-Law/Vory v Zakone crime groups and how Russian spy games, modern organized crime a No...
Two Steps East special series (PART 2): How the Vory v Zakone/Thieves-in-Law, the Russian Mafia, mysterious spymasters and business all ran afoul of the Spanish police... and why this matters in EU politics
In a special Two Steps East series, CEE private detective/risk intelligence expert and investigator Preston Smith examines the history of the Thieves-in-Law/Vory v Zakone crime groups and how Russian spy games, modern organized crime a No...
Two Steps East special series: How the Vory v Zakone/Thieves-in-Law, the Russian Mafia, mysterious spymasters and business all ran afoul of the Spanish police... and why this matters in EU politics (Part 1)
In a special Two Steps East series, CEE private detective/risk intelligence expert and investigator Preston Smith examines the history of the Thieves-in-Law/Vory v Zakone crime groups and how Russian spy games, modern organized crime a North Os...
The week, including: COVID/delta news; Russia, Belarus and Zapad 2021; a Bulgarian trafficker arrested; the Czechs nab mystery man; Prince Charles' Latvian woes; Polish narco/real estate busts; Ukraine wants Bitcoin and more...
Yes, we promised we'd catch up, and here is this week's Two Steps East rundown of the region (and a wild week it was), including the following: the COVID delta variant smacks the Balkans and Ukraine and begins to make its presence felt in the C...
Two Steps East mafia special, including: the end of the Polish Pruszkow Mafia; a third national police chief steps down in Slovakia, and the arrests/trials in the wake of the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and the ever popular "scam of the month"
In this week's Two Steps East podcast, brought to you by risk consultant and CEE private detective Preston Smith, we highlight the death of "Bolo," who passed away due to pancreatic cancer in early September, as well as the final fate of the in...
Reprivatization investigations--political or not? Also in this episode: more COVID variants; Albanian mega-drug bust; Russia for Belarus; the weaponizing of migration and Polish state of emergency on the border; and a history-making bust in Montenegro...
In this episode Poland-based risk consultant and private detective brings you answers to your letters (and thanks for those); the COVID Mu variant in the CR; an Albanian drug bust; Bulgarian politics; Belarus war games and weapons support from ...
Friday musings: why cops hate the "stripper scam;" Latvian former Central Bank gov raided in money laundering probe; Malta oligarch indicted for murder of D. Galizia; Czech internal spy games; the Poland lex-TVN and migrant conundrums and more...
In this week's episode CEE risk consultant and private detective P. "Konrad" Smith discusses a new twist on the "stripper scam" and why it is so difficult to prosecute, as well as regional crime, politics and mafia news, including: the IMF's de...
Special podcast: 32 in limbo--an interview with AFP photojournalist and eye witness Jaap Arriens on the Belarussian-Polish border crisis and the refugees caught in-between
In this special podcast Two Steps East detective P. "Konrad" Smith interviews Dutch-American AFP photojournalist (and eye witness) Jaap Arriens about the current Belarussian-Polish border crisis, which has resulted in a tense standoff bet...
True crime and politics, including: new SMS scams; the recycled food product scam; the Bulgarian election stalemate; the EU targets CR PM Babis; the Polish Carpathian sex scandal and how cops solved the murder of a Polish prime minister
In this episode of Two Steps East CEE private detective P. "Konrad" Smith tackles some rather vocal letters--and addresses a new wave of SMS scams, as well as bigger "recycled" food product scams that have plagued manufacturers in the region fo...
CEE governments making moves: more arrests in Belarus and sanctions; the Czech Republic ousts the head of BIS; Poland's lex-TVN row and also: Latvian "cash out" scheme busted; the Lithuanian Venckiene custody and murder saga and the scam of the week
In this episode CEE private detective P. Konrad Smith discusses the continued turmoil in Belarus--including more arrests and sanctions by the US Biden government; the Bulgarian government impasse; Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's decision to...
Bones to pick: Balkan money laundering and real estate; a Belarussian dissident dies in Kiev and a sprinter bolts for freedom; taxes shake Polish politics; the mysterious deaths of Andrzej Lepper, Jolanta Brzeska and more...
In this episode your dedicated CEE detective P. Konrad Smith takes on allegations surrounding Balkan money laundering and real estate and rising chaos in Belarus, including a defection, a mysterious death in Ukraine and more co-opting on the p...
Friday musings: reverse blockchain/crypting/world-wide malware out of Estonia; Brexit and Lugano; mob hits in Ukraine/Montenegro; the CEE art auction hustle (and Hunter B.); narco busts in Poland and, finally, tips to protect your business
It's the end of the month for Two Steps East, which means it's time for recognition and awards, including crimes and scams not yet featured on this podcast, such as a reverse-blockchain/crypting scam conducted by Estonian and Russian nationals;...
Surveillance and "bug" realities--plus drones; bug scanning; custody battles and kidnapping, etc.
In this episode, Central European private detective P. Konrad Smith discusses the realities of private surveillance, the use of drones, counter surveillance (bug scanning) and more. On this podcast he is joined by a fellow detective, former Pol...
Spyware realities, gangs, whistleblowers and Central Europe...
With news cycles--including Central European news cycles--focusing on Pegasus spyware and its possible use by authoritarian governments-- licensed detective Preston Smith first discusses regional political, criminal and corruption news (includi...
Friday musings: gas politics, new Cold War CEE spy games, Bulgarian elections, e-mail hacking and the death of investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries
In this episode your intrepid Central European licensed detective, investigator (and sometimes political pundit) P. Konrad Smith notes the rampant spy games in the region, which have included serial tit-for-tat expulsions and detainment of amba...
A river of violence: attacks on journalists and the realities of covering protest news with special guest: Dutch-American photo-journalist Jaap Arriens
In this podcast Central European private detective P. Konrad Smith interviews Dutch-American photo- and video-journalist Jaap Arriens, whose credits range from covering protests far and wide, ranging for Euromaidan in Ukraine to the widespread ...
Special podcast: the possible mafia links to the attempted murder of Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries
On July 6, 2021 Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries was seriously wounded in a cowardly gangland shooting in central Amsterdam. At the time of this podcast, de Vries remains in critical condition and is reportedly fighting for his ...
The damage done: new (and past) government e-mail hacking and secret taping scandals in Central Europe--with special guest: think tank and political news correspondent/editor David McQuaid
With June revealing a wide and deep government e-mail hacking scandal in Poland, Warsaw-based private detective and risk consultant P. Konrad Smith discusses the damage inflicted not only in Poland, but also the realities of similar leaks, tapi...
Elite hackers and the Russian thieves-in-law mafia muscle behind them. Also in this episode: a true-crime incident/what the "CEO/BEC scam" looks like on the ground--and upon special request--the Two Steps East "Vor of the Month"
In this episode Central European private detective and risk intelligence consultant P. "Konrad" Smith details not only the increasingly infamous "CEO scam" or "social engineering/BEC scam" in Europe--and how even Fortune 500 companies are...