Krishna Menon was furious when he heard this conversation. It was a curious mix of anger juxtaposed with fear. If Jayakumar had such an approach towards Mahadevan Nair, who he knew through newspaper reports was the Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, wonder what his approach would be towards a simpleton like him. He wanted to let go of everything and head back to his resort. What was born of a genuine feeling of discontent and care for the people living in the surroundings, arising out of his own personal tragedy, had turned into a completely different battle. This was not his cup of tea.
Jayakumar disconnected the line and looked towards Krishna. ‘Bastards’, he said with a scornful look on his face. ‘Let them fuck with me again, I will show them what I can do. You don’t worry Krishna, leave this to me. I will get you out of the CBI wrangle.’
‘Yes Jaya’, was all Krishna could manage. He was too scared to ask him any further questions. That evening he told his wife about the entire conversation which Jaya had with Mahadevan Nair. ‘He is using me.’ He said with an air of desperation.
‘Why blame him? You are allowing yourself to be used. While I have nothing against the protest and I am with you in this cause, you got carried away by the fact that this was making you famous in your neighbourhood. You started believing that you have the power to change the world. Nothing changes. Remember that. The people who came running after you were fighting their own battle—through you. They will scoot the moment someone throws a few morsels at them. Dogs like Jaya will make use of that and mould everything as per their own needs.’
‘I know Sulochana. But I had good intentions.’
‘Jaya thinks he has them too. Your perspectives are different, that’s it. And Krishna, nothing in this world comes free. You needed Jaya to pump in money to help you fight this battle, and Jaya had the resources to do so. He needed a handle on the government, which you provided him. Both of you gained in your respective agendas. Why complain?’
30
Boardroom, GB2 Mumbai
31st January 2012
‘From what Raymond told me when I met him yesterday morning Kavya, he had serious issues with regard to the account of one Asia Logistics. Our starting point has to be that account.’
‘What did he tell you about the account?’
‘Not much. Before he could tell me everything about it, he heard about the death of Harshita and that disturbed him. We had to cut short our meeting. In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t left him in that state.’
‘Hmm. . .what about the call last night?’ Kavya queried.
‘Nothing much. He started sobbing. There was too much noise in the background. I couldn’t hear a thing. I could make out that it was about the same account. But nothing beyond that. Anyway, you ask for the entire transaction history. It’s a relatively new account and so should be easy to get.’ Karan was getting into the groove. The last few years in the media business had been very exciting for him, but this was different. He was trying to investigate and get to the bottom of what killed his friend. There was an unmistakable emotional angle to this entire affair.
‘Also try and see if you can extract the following data for me. This will be very useful.’ He handed her a list. ‘Lastly Kavya, I also want to see the list of accounts managed by Harshita Lele in Bandra. For starters, this should do.’
‘Sir,’ said Kavya nodding and gently bowing her head. Karan smiled at her. The next couple of days were going to be interesting for both of them.
In Mumbai, oblivious of what was going on in Indrani’s mind and in her office, Vikram was in his cabin responding to mails. Juliana had said that she would be going to Raymond’s house only in the afternoon. The body was still in the morgue, in the custody of the cops and they had said that they would release it towards late afternoon after the post-mortem. The admin team of GB2 was working on securing an early release so that the last rites could be performed.
Indrani had instructed Tanuja to work with the public affairs team to prepare a media release, just in case Tanuja’s apprehension came true and the media did come calling.
A knock on his cabin door made Vikram look up from his laptop.
‘Hey Zinaida. Good to see you.’ Seeing her hesitate, he added, ‘Come on in.’
‘Good morning Vikram.’
Vikram looked at his watch and smiled, ‘Just about.’ Laughing at his own joke, he said, ‘What brings you to this side of town?’
‘Vikram I had come to meet a customer. The customer stays in Bandra, but has his office in Colaba. Since I was in this side of town, I thought I would drop in and convey my thanks to you in person. I’m really grateful to you, that you thought it fit to give me this role. Though the circumstances under which I got this role were not particularly happy, nevertheless it atleast told me what you think of me.’
‘No no not at all. There’s no need to thank me. In fact, Anand and Nikhil have been singing great praises of you. They were the ones who wanted me to give the role to you.’
‘No Vikram. Nikhil told me of your discussion with him and Tanuja. I will try to live up to the faith that you have reposed in me.’ She walked up to Vikram and when she was very close to him, she gave him a big hug and said, ‘Thanks boss.’
Vikram felt his whole body shiver when she hugged him. It had been a while since someone had given him such a tight, sensual hug. He too reciprocated. At that very instant his cabin door flew open.
‘Oops. I am so sorry.’
‘It’s okay Tanuja. You can come in.’ Vikram quickly withdrew his hands and released Zinaida.
‘I guess I came in at a wrong time,’ said Tanuja. She had gone red in her face, more out of anger than embarrassment.
‘Thanks Vikram, I will come back later. Bye Tanuja,’ and Zinaida disappeared. She didn’t want to get caught between two seniors.
Tanuja glared at Zinaida as she left. She was furious.
‘Arre, she just came in to thank me and gave me a hug. What can I do about it?’
‘You were not exactly behaving like Vishwamitra, Vikram. Your grasp seemed to be tighter than hers.’
‘Oh, come on Tanuja. Stop being so jealous and possessive. Atleast I won’t do these things in my cabin in office.’
‘Oh then where will my lover boy do these things? In the car? In the loo? In the basement? Where exactly have you done it with her?’
‘Oh shut up baby.’
‘Hmm. . .We will talk about this Vikram. You haven’t heard the end of it.’
‘Cheer up baby. You should know me by now.’
‘I was on this floor. So I thought I will step by and say a quick hello. But I came in at a wrong time I guess.’ Tanuja was visibly upset.
‘Arre no yaar. Stop being so suspicious.’
Tanuja ignored the comment. ‘Anyway, I am with Soumya. We are drafting a press note for Indrani. Let me know if you need anything.’ Soumya was the Head of Public Affairs at GB2. She managed the relationship with the press.
‘What I need, I know I won’t be able to take from you here.’
‘You can take it from Zinaida, but not me? It’s okay. I will speak to you once we’re done with work,’ and she left, banging his cabin door behind her. Vikram just smiled.
From Vikram’s cabin, Tanuja went straight to Soumya’s room. It didn’t take them long to draft the press briefing. They showed it to Indrani, who didn’t have too much to say on it, and the issue was sealed. The briefing, after being vetted, was sent out to all the business leaders, just in case they got queries from the local media. All this was happening on the fifth floor of the GB2 HQ, oblivious of what was going on inside the boardroom.
The Account Opening Form (AOF) of Asia Logistics was the first document to hit Jacqueline’s mailbox. She promptly printed out the scanned copy and walked in with the AOF and the transaction history and handed it over to Karan.
All KYC documents were in place. Even the RM concerned had visited the office and done a site visit report. That too was in order.
‘The A
OFs seem perfect,’ he said when he handed over the documents to Kavya. ‘Just perform a sanity check. I couldn’t see anything fishy here.’
Kavya went through the entire account opening form. Nothing was out of place. It was a form signed by two directors. And both of them were authorized to operate the account. The company had signed up for e-statements, which were sent to the email ID of one of the directors. She went through all the documents one by one, carefully so as not to miss anything.
‘Karan, tell me one thing. . .’
‘Hmm?’
‘Under what circumstances do organizations give a HOLD instruction?’
‘What hold instructions?’
‘Arre idiot, HOLD instructions. . .for holding back all correspondence at the bank branch, and not mailing it to the customer.’
‘Oh, understood. HOLD instructions are given when the account holder does not want the bank to send him any correspondence—statements, advices, cheque books, transaction receipts etc. They give the bank a ‘HOLD’ instruction, on the basis of which the bank sends all the correspondence it would normally send to the customer, to the branch where the customer has his account. The customer then arranges to pick it up from the local branch of the bank at his convenience. In case of company accounts, it’s normally done if the company is shifting offices, in which case any correspondence sent to the company’s given address is likely to get lost. But banks don’t encourage this too much. Not only does this put pressure on the branches to manage customer correspondence as these customers pick up their correspondence from the bank branch, it also gives rise to a lot of frauds. But why do you ask?’
‘Well, because Asia Logistics has given GB2 a HOLD instruction. Anyway what are you going through?’
‘Transaction history of their current account.’
‘Okay, sorry for the interruption.’
‘No problem. . .but wait. Did you say that this company has given a “correspondence on HOLD” instruction from day one?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure? I haven’t seen many companies give a “correspondence on HOLD” instruction from day one.’
‘Yes Karan. All their correspondence is on HOLD. It goes to the Bandra branch, from where it gets picked up by their errand boys.’
‘Kavya, but in my entire banking career I haven’t ever accepted a HOLD instruction from a new account.’
‘Why?’
‘Because in the case of a new account, it could also mean that the company does not exist at the address that it has given in the AOF. So it does not want any correspondence to go there.’
‘Understood. Could it also mean the company exists at the address listed but someone opened an account in the company’s name giving fraudulent documents and so they don’t want the correspondence to go there?’
‘Yes of course. It could be either of the two.’ He suddenly jumped from his chair, ‘Oh shit. . .Kavya. . .we will have to check this out. This could be the fraud we are looking for.’
Kavya’s eyes lit up. Was this the big moment they were waiting for? No chance. It could not come so soon. They had just begun the investigation.
‘I will have to check this out.’ Karan was suddenly excited at what Kavya had discovered.
‘Wait, Karan. Don’t get so hyper. Zinaida has visited the office. There is a visit report on file.’
‘Who Zinaida?’
‘An RM in Bandra. She has visited the office of Asia Logistics and filed her report. It’s on file.’
‘I saw that. However, the HOLD instruction seems fishy. It’s a first for me. Never seen a new account with a HOLD instruction. I need to check it out quickly. I’ll go now.’
‘Now? As in, right now?’
‘Yes. I don’t have a choice. It has to be you or me. You stay here. Run the reports I have asked you for and I’ll go to the address, check it out and come back. The office is in South Mumbai so it won’t take too much time.’ He made a grab of the papers, which included all the AOFs and ran out of Indrani’s room. ‘Get the other reports fast. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes.’
He was waiting at the lift lobby on the floor, hoping he would not run into anyone he knew. A tap on his shoulder made him turn around. As it turned out, he was not that lucky. ‘Hi Karan.’ It was Tanuja. ‘What brings you here?’
‘Oh Tanuja. How are you? Just the regular shit. Work. We’re doing a lead story on GB2 and we wanted to spend a day with Indrani to write about her. I’m just heading out because there’s an emergency at office. Will be back in an hour or so.’
‘Once you are done with that, come down to my room for coffee. Let’s catch up. It’s been a while.’
‘I’m not sure about today but I’ll definitely catch you tomorrow. Need to talk to you about Indrani’s style of functioning. How is she as a leader? It will be helpful in the story we are writing about GB2.’
‘Any time. Just buzz me. You have my mobile number.’ Tanuja said, before she got off on her floor. Karan nodded as the lift door closed behind her.
31
Colaba, Mumbai
Forenoon, 31st January 2012
Karan flagged a passing taxi and headed towards Colaba. When he reached the Gateway of India, he passed a fifty-rupee note to the taxi driver and got off. Quite a steep payment for a short distance, but he didn’t have time to stop and negotiate or even wait for the cab driver to return the change.
The address of Asia Logistics as mentioned in the AOF was of a location behind the Taj Mahal Hotel. Swiftly, and with long strides he walked past the Gateway of India on his left, and reached the by-lanes behind the Taj. He was looking for a building called Connoisseur. It didn’t take him much time to locate it. A run down building, it housed small and medium sized offices. Most of the businesses there were of freight agents. Walking in, he reached the lift lobby. There were three creaky old lifts which ferried passengers up and down. Displayed on a large wall in the lift lobby, on the right of the three lifts, were the nameplates of all the companies housed there. Karan stood there, hunting for the name. . .and there it was. . .ninth floor. . .Asia Logistics Private Limited, Office No. 906. The address matched the one he had on the Account Opening Form. So far so good, thought Karan.
A silent prayer escaped his lips as he stepped into the dilapidated lift hoping that it would safely take him to the 9th floor. Thankfully, God heard his prayer. Moving aside to allow an old lady to pass through, he followed her out of the lift and surveyed the exterior to figure out where the office of Asia Logistics was. He nearly tripped on a tile laminate which had come loose. Thankfully he had the wall to hold on to for support and didn’t fall, although the papers in his hand spilled on to the floor. He hurriedly picked them up. There was no time to lose.
He walked a few steps. A hastily stuck, partly torn paper on the wall announced the fact that the corridor ahead was home to offices 906 to 910. He marched on. Another fifteen metres and he was in front of a glass door. On it was inscribed in large letters, ‘Global Telesys’. He looked towards his left, opposite the main door of Global Telesys. He was staring at a freshly painted wall. He didn’t have time to wonder what benefit the fresh coat of paint would provide if the surroundings were so shabby.
He pushed the glass door open and walked in. A cute-looking girl wearing a flimsy, revealing top with a deep, never-ending neckline sat at the reception desk. Karan followed the neckline down till he reached the point where it dipped into her cleavage. He let out a sigh and looked up.
‘Can I help you?’ the girl said, smiling at him.
‘Hello. I am looking for this address,’ and he handed her a slip of paper with the address of Asia Logistics.
The receptionist looked at the address and read it out loud, ‘906, Connoisseur, Taj Lane, Colaba. You want to know where to find this place?’
‘Yes.’
‘You are standing there.’
‘This is 906?’
‘Yes sir, who do you want to meet?’
‘But the s
ign says Global Telesys.’
‘Yes sir. That’s the name of our company.’
‘You mean office number 906 is the address of Global Telesys? Is there any other wing in this building? A-Wing? B-Wing?’
‘No sir. This is the only building and you are standing in office 906 which is Global Telesys.’ The irritation in her voice was evident. She didn’t like being asked the same question repeatedly.
‘But the name of the company I have is Asia Logistics.’ There was panic in Karan’s voice.
‘Oh Asia Logistics. Why didn’t you say that earlier? They were here before us.’
Karan suddenly felt a bit relieved. So Asia Logistics was operating from there. The address on the account opening form was correct. It was not a fraudulent account. Maybe they were shifting and that’s why they had given the HOLD instruction.
‘Oh thanks ma’am. Any idea where they have moved? By the way, the board at the entrance of the building still shows 906 as the office of Asia Logistics.’
‘They have moved to the sixth floor,’ she said, pointing downwards.
‘In the same building?’
‘Yeah. And we have been asking the building administration to change the name plates. . .but they are far too lazy to do it.’
‘Oh no issues. Even reminders don’t work?’ Karan said playfully.
‘Nothing works on these guys. In fact, we’ve had it easy; we’ve been hounding them for only the past three months. These guys, Asia Logistics, have been chasing them for over eight months now.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yup. Ever since they vacated this office and moved downstairs.’
‘Oh. Hope it gets changed soon then. I am sure there are many like me who come up asking for the wrong office. Thanks anyway.’ Karan opened the door but the moment he stepped out, it struck him. Eight months? He froze. Did the receptionist say eight months? He looked at the documents in his hand. The account had been opened approximately three months back. Retracing his steps, he walked back into the office of Global Telesys.
The Bankster (Ravi Subramanian) Page 19