Smoke Screen – Episode 1: Room 205

They say a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Our investigation starts in 2013, and we meet an attorney called Belinda Walter who is recruited by BAT in London to spy on the tobacco smugglers within South Africa. How is it that an upstanding citizen can get wrapped up in this world? Can a young journalist uncover one of the biggest scandals the South African tobacco industry has seen in decades?

Over the next 8 weeks, we will be exploring allegations that British American Tobacco used a network of spies to help damage its rivals. One of these, Belinda Walter, nearly brought the whole operation crashing down.

BAT denies any wrong doing.

A Novel production for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Auddy.