Terminal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  ‘New phone Phyllis?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh, yes, it is actually,’ replied Phyllis flushing slightly.

  ‘Very nice, looks like a top of the range model,’ continued Polly, ‘can I see it? I’m thinking of upgrading sometime.’

  ‘Er, yes, you can have a look,’ volunteered Phyllis reluctantly, looking even more uncomfortable.

  ‘Very nice. Present was it?’

  ‘Er, yes, from my husband.’

  ‘Hmm, very generous. I’ve seen these advertised but they’re a bit pricey for me at the moment,’ added Polly looking her colleague directly in the eye.

  ‘I er, well yes, I guess so, I’m not sure, as I said it was a present,’ and Phyllis started to play with her necklace around her increasingly reddening neck.

  ‘Well enjoy it,’ said Polly breezily as she collected her printouts.

  Over the weekend Polly had been doing some web searching about the issue of fraud in higher education and it had given her some ideas and pointers to look out for. Once she’d finished on the tendering process she was going to move on to the purchase orders, specifically the pre-paid cards which the university issued to facilitate the purchase of non-capital items, those being items less than two thousand pounds. It was unnecessary to get approval for relatively small purchase orders and thus the whole process could be subject to abuse. Phyllis was now on Polly’s radar and she might well need that phone to apply for some job interviews in the future mused Polly cruelly.

  **

  Piers strode into reception to greet his visitors and personally escort them up to Meeting Room One where the rest of his senior team were assembled. He held out his hand towards his two visitors, ‘Piers Frobisher, welcome to BioQex,’ he said, trying to sound as composed as possible.

  ‘Alex Goodwood,’ said the lead FCA investigator, ‘Olivia Frensman,’ said his assistant, and they shook hands with Piers.

  ‘This way,’ indicated Piers leading them towards the stairs. ‘Good journey?’ he asked.

  ‘Fine, we took the train, it’s a good service and gives us a chance to work on the train,’ replied Alex.

  ‘Sure, sure,’ said Piers, opening the door to the first-floor office area and indicating they should proceed ahead.

  ‘This way,’ he indicated, opening the door to Meeting Room One, where the assembled group of Brett, Jonathan and Melanie stood to greet the visitors. Amanda had provided glasses and bottled water together with an insulated jug of coffee and a jug of milk. There was also a plate of small biscuits and a bowl of fruit on the table.

  ‘Can I offer you coffee or water?’ asked Piers, acting as if he were hosting a convivial soirée at his home.

  ‘I’m fine thanks, perhaps later,’ replied Alex, and his colleague shook her head and smiled.

  ‘Of course, I guess you are keen to press on. I would like to introduce my colleagues and also Mr Marcus Brougham our company legal representative. I assume you have no problem with me asking that we have legal representation present?’

  ‘No, of course, that’s your right,’ replied Alex.

  ‘Thank you, so please, the floor’s yours,’ offered Piers and he sat down.

  ‘Thank you Dr Frobisher, I assume you are all familiar with the contents of the letter I sent to you last week,’ and he scanned the group looking for their agreement. ‘Thank you for your cooperation in agreeing to a meeting at relatively short notice.’

  ‘We are happy to help in any way,’ added Piers, hoping that he didn’t sound too insincere.

  ‘It’s the duty of the Financial Conduct Authority to monitor share price movements to pick up any unusual trading patterns which might indicate that they are driven by information which is not in the public domain. The release of sensitive information in order to manipulate the share price is strictly against the law and can carry heavy penalties.’ Alex spoke professionally and calmly, it was clearly not the first time he’d made a company visit like this showing consummate professionalism. ‘With your agreement, my colleague Ms Frensman will take notes of any discussion on the laptop. We will, of course, provide copies of any transcripts for your perusal and you will be able to comment or contradict any statements which we record as evidence of our discussions,’ and he paused as the senior team nodded their agreement. ‘We will also need to take away the documents we requested in the letter, I trust you have had time to prepare them?’

  ‘They are all here for you,’ interjected Melanie, pointing to a folder. This contained records of major share purchases on behalf of the senior managers. Also the regular purchases as part of the employee share scheme which some staff took part in each month using part of their salary. It also detailed any block share purchases by the company which happened from time to time which served to reduce the shares in circulation and boost the share price. Frank Stevens her predecessor had been rigorous to a fault in making sure all documentation was up to date at all times and complied completely with disclosure notices. She slid the package over to Olivia who reached for it and placed it in front of her on the desk.

  ‘Thank you, we will, of course, issue you with a receipt,’ said Olivia.

  ‘I have prepared a document which forms the basis of our investigation. It shows dates and times when large purchases and sales took place. The rise or fall of the share price is indicated. There is also a graphical representation of the movement in price relative to the timelines of major announcements and press releases made by BioQex. There is also a graph showing volumes traded versus the timeline of announcements.’ Alex passed round the sheets to the group and paused whilst they had time to absorb the data. There was a lot of data to take in so whilst they were doing so he took a cup and pressed down on the insulated jug to dispense some coffee. He silently indicated to Olivia who nodded her assent and he poured one for her, allowing her to add her own milk.

  The senior team could see plainly that the biggest volumes in shares were dealt before the second announcement they had made concerning BQ-896, causing the share price to climb steadily. Even when they had announced the unfortunate incident concerning Zac Milburn the share price continued to rise. They could also see that there was a sustained rise even on days when the wider market fell. This might happen occasionally with a small company but not every day whatever the market conditions or when bad news hit a company.

  ‘The trading patterns have also been analysed by software, in fact, it was the software which originally alerted us. We monitor trading all the time and we have a good correlation between the number crunching by computer and market manipulation. We have reason to believe that some person or persons leaked information regarding your press release on BQ-896 and used that information to purchase shares before the information became public knowledge. Commonly known as insider dealing. We have further information which we need to investigate. The results of these investigations will most probably lead us to prepare a submission to the Fraud Squad. This will then become a criminal matter and it will depend on discussions between Fraud and Senior Crimes as to which department takes this further.’

  The assembled group look shell-shocked. There was no shying away from the data in front of them. Someone had abused their position and hoped to make a killing from the dealing in BioQex shares. Who was it and how had they managed to cover their tracks were the questions scudding through all their heads. How would this affect the company was another question, would it be damaged irreparably? Piers as head of the company felt he should speak first.

  ‘Well I’m totally shocked and dismayed,’ he added. ‘I’m sure I speak for all my colleagues that we want to catch the perpetrator of this crime, anything we can do to help, just ask.’

  ‘Thank you, Dr Frobisher. If we could have a word in private with you, and Mr Brougham that would be very useful.’

  ‘Of course, thank you team, perhaps you could leave the room and go back to your offices for the moment.’

  Brett, Melanie and Jonathan left the room in silence. Once the door had closed Ale
x continued the meeting. ‘We have evidence that Dr Brett Chandler has been the person leaking information to someone who has been dealing on his behalf.’

  ‘What, Brett? Surely not!’ stuttered Piers and he stood and started to pace around the room. ‘Brett is my Chief Scientific Officer, he’s an extremely smart guy, he wouldn’t be so stupid. He would be risking everything, surely there has been some mistake?’

  ‘What I say must not leave this room,’ and Alex raised his eyebrows to Piers and Marcus.

  ‘We have discovered an account in Dr Chandler’s name which has received funds from the large share sale last week. It does not contain all the proceeds of the share sale and we suspect that the remainder of the money is being laundered through offshore accounts. An extremely complex web of transactions is being unravelled at this moment by my colleagues. We have yet to uncover the bulk of the money but there is no doubt that the account is in his name and was set up using his identification documents. We need to speak to him as a matter of urgency.’

  ‘Well of course, but I’m sorry I’m just in shock, it’s hard to take in,’ said Piers, returning to his chair, resting his head in his hands.

  ‘We will speak to Dr Chandler here today but he has the right to adjourn until he has engaged legal representation. Unless Mr Brougham wishes to represent him?’

  ‘I feel that would be a conflict of interest,’ replied Marcus, ‘I represent the company and as my company may need to take action against Dr Chandler I will not be able to represent him.’

  ‘Of course, well we will speak to Dr Chandler now and issue him with a document indicating that he will need to come to our offices at a later date with legal counsel. You will need to decide whether you wish to suspend Dr Chandler from employment pending further investigation and communication from the FCA. I would strongly advise that he has no access to any financial documents or databases for the time being.’

  Marcus leaned over and whispered something to Piers who nodded. ‘If you would like to follow me I’ll take you to speak to Brett, Dr Chandler,’ said Piers. Alex and Olivia stood, gathered their things and headed out of the room leaving the solicitor alone to await Piers’ return to prepare their damage limitation strategy.

  Chapter 24

  Billie returned to her desk following her encounter with Nick to see that he had submitted the costing and request for the large-scale intermediate needed by the project. The quote from their contract company Garsdale came in at just over eight thousand pounds so it was well above the newly imposed cut-off limit for ordering. She sighed, what a pain this was, the project desperately needed that intermediate. They needed to make some large batches for some toxicology testing and this would be aided hugely if they could contract out a few of the early stages. There were also some rather hazardous reagents used in one of the steps and from a purely selfish point of view it was always better if someone else did those steps. It was a long shot but perhaps she could get Nick to find another company to undercut the quote, otherwise, some unlucky person would have to take on the role of large-scale chemist. The other option was to go to speak to Brett to see whether he could argue for some leniency over the suspension of expenditure. However, having seen what he looked like ten minutes ago she would leave that task until after lunch. His face was ashen as he’d left Meeting Room One and headed back to his office. She had a horrible feeling that following the team meeting there might be a whole company meeting or announcement and those rarely signalled good news.

  **

  There was a knock at the door, Brett jumped slightly at the noise, and shouted for the visitor to enter. Piers walked in followed by Alex and Olivia. He stood politely, his pulse racing and his palms feeling slightly damp. He tried to take some deepish breaths but didn’t want anything to signal his anxiety.

  ‘Brett,’ said Piers, ‘Mr Goodwood and Ms Frensman have some additional questions for you,’ and he left the office discretely.

  ‘Please, take a seat,’ said Brett, ushering his guests to the round table in the corner of his office.

  ‘Dr Chandler, we have some documents to show you,’ said Alex indicating to Olivia to present them to Brett who took, them examining them blankly.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ he said, opening his hands in a questioning gesture.

  ‘This account was opened recently in your name and as you can see contains a sum slightly in excess of five thousand pounds. Do you recognise the account number or the sum of money?’

  ‘It’s not my account and it’s not my money,’ said Brett, passing the sheet back to them.

  ‘Your name is on the account and it has received proceeds from a recent large sale of shares in BioQex. The figure realised from the share sale is around one hundred thousand pounds. This money was paid into this account and then three large amounts subsequently left, leaving this residual sum,’ and Olivia produced another document showing the transactions. ‘Do you have any comment?’

  ‘I have no idea how this account has been set up, why money was paid into it and where it came from,’ insisted Brett. ‘I’m the victim of fraud here, believe me.’ Brett’s voice had risen in volume and pitch at the revelation.

  ‘Dr Chandler, this account was set up using identification documents bearing your name and address. How do you explain that?’

  ‘I can’t but someone must have stolen my identity. Wait a minute, my post has been going missing, someone must have stolen something,’ Brett was actually shouting now and suddenly realised he was losing his cool.

  ‘Dr Chandler, that may be the case but we do not feel that a rogue postman would be capable of a fraud involving shares on this scale. Nor would he have the knowledge about BioQex to leak sensitive information to someone to act before it became public knowledge.’

  There was a tense silence whilst Brett sat silently fuming. This could not be happening, he felt like stabbing a pencil into his thigh to try to wake himself from a bad dream. He felt his whole future flash before him, this could destroy him and he was completely innocent. He began to feel light-headed, a result of the stress building up to the meeting and now the hammer blow of the specific accusation. Brett merely shrugged, unable to summon any more words to press his innocence.

  ‘We have made a record of your comments but we feel that there is sufficient evidence to interview you at a later date at our offices. Our enquiries are ongoing. We have applied for the authority to monitor your mobile phone records should you try to contact anyone involved in this incident. We will inform you by letter of an appointment for you to attend at the FCA offices, could you just please confirm your home address?’

  ‘Flat 6, Collston Court, Trenchford Avenue, Persford,’ replied Brett glumly. ‘Let’s hope I get the letter, providing it’s not stolen by the Royal Mail,’ he added petulantly.

  ‘It will be sent using the signed for service sir,’ added Alex, unprovoked by Brett’s jibe. ‘Whether you are allowed to continue in your current position whilst enquiries are pending is entirely a matter for your company.’

  ‘What, I might be suspended?’ shouted Brett.

  ‘It’s possible, but as this is a small company they might decide they can’t manage without you,’ replied Alex, ‘that is not my concern. ‘We have the authority to request access to all your personal bank accounts, savings accounts, mortgage details and so on, if you are in agreement please sign this form,’ and Olivia produced another document from her wallet. Brett duly signed, he had no choice.

  ‘Thank you, sir, you have been most helpful,’ and Alex stood and offered his hand which Brett reluctantly shook. They left the room leaving Brett sitting looking completely distraught. He took out his phone to call Annabelle. Frustratingly it went to voicemail, ‘Fuck, fuck and fuck he muttered banging his fist on the desk, as he waited for the greeting to finish, ‘Annabelle, please phone me as soon as you can, it’s really important, please, I’m in serious trouble. I need your help.’

  Chapter 25

  Nick left work at lunchtime t
o go to the garage to get his tyre fixed. He’d phoned ahead and they’d booked him a slot at 1 p.m. He was hoping that there wouldn’t be a long delay and he would be back within the hour. So far that day he felt he’d achieved very little. There seemed to be a tense atmosphere about the building with the visitors trooping between the senior team’s offices. Something was definitely afoot and even Billie had confided in him that she felt they were due to receive a big announcement. Nick was less than pleased to find that his quote for the synthesis of the project intermediate was being refused. He faced an afternoon of searches and phone calls to try to obtain a cheaper one and he felt he was unlikely to be able to get it reduced sufficiently. Part of him felt that perhaps it was all a fruitless enterprise anyway if there was to be a major announcement soon.

  He was just getting in his car when he noticed Brett leaving the building in a rush, mobile phone clamped to his ear. He ran over to his car, activating the remote as he did so and jumped in. He drove away, fastening his seatbelt whilst driving. Nick decided to hold on a moment to allow Brett to leave the car park, tyres squealing as he made a sharp turn and headed off in the direction of the town. Well, something was certainly up he thought. One minute visitors were conducting clandestine meetings on site and the next a senior team member was leaving like he was answering an emergency call. Well he would watch in silence, he didn’t want to be accused of gossiping, however, it might be possible later in the day to engage Amanda in conversation and glean a few more details. He would certainly be here later than usual tonight.

  **

  Brett and Annabelle had arranged to meet down by the river for a quiet chat. She’d told him not to come to her office and he didn’t want to meet in a cafe where people might be listening. He also thought he might have trouble controlling his anger when he started to relay the visit from the FCA. He’d been fuming since his individual interview when they’d informed him he was a person of interest concerning insider dealing. He simply could not believe it. Someone had decided to screw him and had made a good job of it. He just hoped that Annabelle could find someone competent to represent him, perhaps she herself could be his legal representative.