The Smuggler: 8. The Boat Theory

Two sisters, set to receive a surprise life-changing inheritance, have it snatched away by a stranger. As Sue Mitchell investigates, she reveals how fake wills are being used to strip the estates of the dead and deny rightful heirs what is rightfully theirs.This new narrative podcast from multi award winning investigative reporter Sue Mitchell (Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion, Million Dollar Lover) reveals a crime that’s gone unreported until now and a system that is struggling to stop it.

It should be impossible to steal a home, but Sue Mitchell reveals it's all too easy. The multi-award winning investigative journalist (Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion, Million Dollar Lover) is on the trail of an East European crime group using forged wills to 'take' the homes of the dead , stealing millions from rightful heirs and denying the Government valuable tax revenue. Sue Mitchell starts her original investigation when two sisters are denied their rightful inheritance following the death of their estranged aunt, but soon finds herself tracking a gang that are not only conning people out of property but also linked to cannabis farms, money laundering and the sale of UK work visas. Over five episodes, she goes in search of the gang members behind this elaborate scam and web of false companies, exposing the shortfalls of a creaking system which places countless others at risk. Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Journalist Annabel Deas speaks to experts who fear Nick’s routes and methods are a back door for other people smugglers

Nick arrives in Kent with four Vietnamese migrants on his boat. But he’s met by police who arrest him for people smuggling.

After a near escape, Nick vows to never smuggle again. Meanwhile, police build a theory that Nick is smuggling Vietnamese migrants to work on cannabis farms.

Nick evades the police in France. But his boat is broken and taking on water. Meanwhile, journalist Annabel Deas hears about the dangerous journeys taken by Vietnamese migrants.Presenter - Annabel Deas Producer - Hayley Mortimer Sound design - Neil Churchill Researcher - Isabel Kimbrey Editor - Matt Willis Commissioning Executive - Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor - Dan Clarke Series music - Ambit Sound

Nick is paid thousands of pounds to bring Vietnamese migrants into the UK. But at what cost?

Nick buys a boat and searches for a new smuggling route across the English Channel.

After serving time in prison for people smuggling, Nick becomes an informant, providing information about the Albanian gang.

Nick is growing in confidence, smuggling migrants across the channel on ferries. But human error is impossible to avoid.