Episode 2: War Chest

Maeve and Sophia speak with two experts in Libyan politics to try and get a big-picture understanding of current affairs in Libya and more context on the impact of the lost Gaddafi funds. They also speak to a reporter in Accra, Ghana who’s covered countless financial scams. Finally, Maeve and Sophia lay out the facts of Curt and Richard’s story and reach a conclusion about what happened to them.

Maeve and Sophia introduce Brian Roche and dig into his connection to Curt Weldon, Richard Glanton, and the scam that led them to borrow money from Brian in the first place. But when Maeve and Sophia finally get in touch with Brian, he says the loans had nothing to do with Ghana, or the scam. And a few months later, Brian’s lawyers file some documents in the lawsuit in California that contradict everything Maeve and Sophia have been told about the story so far.

Erik Goaied, a Tunisian businessman with ties to the Gaddafi regime, says he knows who is behind the scam in Ghana that led Curt and Richard to lose millions of dollars. Erik tells Maeve and Sophia he’s been tracking the scammers in Ghana for a while and offers a compelling explanation for why Curt and Richard were targeted for the scam. Maeve and Sophia work to corroborate Erik’s story, comparing documents, images, and first-hand accounts. A lot of Erik’s story lines up with what Curt and Richard say happened to them in Ghana. But not quite.

In an attempt to learn more about Curt and Richard, and to figure out how and why they fell for what seemed to be an obvious scam, Maeve and Sophia call up two journalists who covered Philadelphia in the nineties. When Sophia’s internet sleuthing leads to a breakthrough, they dig through thousands of pages of court documents to confirm their theory, and speak with Misha Wessell, a Dutch journalist who might know something about the $350 million in Ghana.

In 2015 Curt Weldon, a retired politician with a penchant for conspiracy theories, is approached with a business opportunity: to manage a large fund belonging to a Middle Eastern oil minister. The catch? The money, which is over $350 million in cash, is being stored in Ghana. In Accra, Curt and his business partner, attorney Richard Glanton, agree to pay a series of fees in an attempt to obtain the cash, taking out bigger and bigger loans to do so. By 2017, Curt and Richard are millions of dollars in debt, and embroiled in a lawsuit in California over the unpaid loans, having never obtained the $350 million. In episode 1 of Big Fish, Maeve and Sophia learn about the lawsuit, and set out to unravel the strange story of a multi-million dollar scam that sounds too unbelievable to be true.

Big Fish is the bizarre and convoluted true story of how a former U.S. congressman, a Philadelphia attorney, and a Las Vegas loan shark were scammed out of millions of dollars while trying to get their hands on a dead dictator's hidden treasure.