White Collar Blackmail: White Collar Crime Financial Suspense Thriller Read Free Page B

will be all over those stock transactions.”
    “Dermott, I know you’re busting to tell us about your latest convert,” O’Brien interjected. “He’ll more than replace Frampton and Gibson.”
    “We’ve had our eye on a young accountant who’s an audit manager with Montgomery Hastings & Pierce. He gambles on the horses at one of the betting parlors on the edge of Chinatown. He’s been having an incredible run using some convoluted, self-designed betting system,” Becker said.
    “He’ll end up losin’,” Borchard said, “they always do.”
    “Yeah, you’re right, so we’ve made sure that his credit’s been extended to half a mil. When he starts losing we’ll own him,” Becker said.
    “Half a mil’s not much,” Ridgeway said, “surely he’ll be able to get the money from somewhere. Is his family poor or something?”
    “On the contrary, and that’s the beauty of it.” Becker smiled. “His father’s a surgeon; his mother’s a doctor, and he has a sister and brother who are both surgeons. He’s the black sheep, the failure of the family. He went to the best schools, the same ones his siblings went to and ended up as an accountant and major disappointment to his father. The betting system is his way of proving that he’s as smart as, and can make as much money as anyone else in the family. He’ll never ask them to cover a gambling debt. Can you imagine the shame?”
    “Yeah, yeah, that’s all very interestin’,” Borchard said. “Whatta we get out of it?”
    “I’m getting to it,” Becker responded. “Montgomery Hastings & Pierce is a very prestigious firm, and the big four have been trying to take them over for years without success. But what’s most appealing about them is that they audit forty public companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ.”
    “What’s the big four?” Borchard interrupted.
    “The four biggest accounting firms in the world,” Becker said. “Can you save your questions until I’m finished? This guy will have access to the sales and profits of those companies before they’re reported to the market. When he’s in our pocket, we’ll also have that information. It’ll be like reading tomorrow’s newspapers today.”
    “Fantastic,” Ridgeway said.
    “Brilliant,” Lydia Coe chimed in.
    “I’ll ask ya again. Whatta we get out of it?” Borchard said.
    “The return could be north of fifty mil for an outlay of two,” Becker replied.
    “It sure makes my milk deal look puny,” O’Brien said.
    “Yeah, looks okay, Dermott, but so did that deal ya had Elliot do with the Italian stockbroker. The prick who fed us bullshit inside information,” Borchard said. “Didn’t we end up payin’ him and losin’ millions?”
    “We paid Giovani a million dollars for the information, and he invested it in the same stocks he recommended to us,” Becker said. “This is different. We’ll be dealing in facts, not rumors, and if it works, we’ll be able to infiltrate other accounting firms using the same or similar methods.”
    “For a fifty mil return it’s worth a try,” Borchard said. “Whatta ya gonna to do about Giovani?”
    “Do? I’m not going to do anything. What do you expect me to do?” Becker replied.
    “We lost millions, and you paid him a mil for bullshit! Did ya at least get that back? Because if ya didn’t, it sends a terrible message to others who deal with us. It says we’re soft, we can be ripped off, and we’re gonna do nothin’ about it. It’s a bad message. Next thing you know we’ll have stooges linin’ up at the door to feed us bullshit,” Borchard said. “Dermott, you've got a good man in Jack Elliot workin’ for you. Get him to take care of it.”
    “He can’t pay us back. Didn’t you hear me? He put the million into the same stocks he recommended to us. I told you when you joined us that the only people we prematurely terminate are those who might pose a threat. Giovani’s not a dying weirdo or an out of control drug