by Marie Astor
The tricky thing about money was that the more you made, the more you wanted to spend. Vanessa loved exquisite things, and Dennis loved giving them to her. He was making a good living, but he was hungry for more. When one of the senior partners of Vitaon hedge fund approached Dennis with an extremely lucrative offer of employment, he found himself saying yes. Working at Rossman Grozling had been great – Dennis had learned a lot, but he had also contributed a lot. His trading picks had generated stellar returns for the desk, covering for several traders’ wrong picks. But no matter how much money he generated for the firm, there was still a cap on the bonus. All the large broker dealers operated on the same model. Sure, the bonuses were generous, but Dennis felt he deserved more. At Vitaon, traders were compensated on a percentage of what they generated – the more money you made for the firm, the larger your bonus would be. Perhaps Dennis would have reconsidered employment with Vitaon if Terrance Stanton had still been around at Rossman Grozling, but Dennis’s mentor had been ousted in a corporate squabble a year before and had since retired.
During his first year at Vitaon, Dennis had reaped the largest bonus of his career. The day after he got his money, he proposed to Vanessa with a ten-carat diamond ring from Harry Winston. Vanessa squealed with delight. She was going to forget about acting – who needed all that travelling and constant dieting when one could focus on things that mattered, like being a wife and a mother? Dennis felt his pride swell. He had everything he had ever wanted, and he was just getting started.
Dennis still remembered the shock he felt when he discovered Vitaon’s fraud. The hedge fund might have been booming, but it was most indiscriminate as to the sources from which its investors’ money came, including terrorists and drug cartels. Dennis was shocked to discover that all the fund’s managers knew about the fraud. As a thank you for his remarkable performance, Dennis was promoted to partner and let in on the secret. Joy was not the emotion Dennis felt after his promotion. With his new title, he would be liable for the fraud that was taking place at Vitaon.
Dennis knew that he had to get out, but before he could circulate his resume on the street, he was approached by the Feds. They were onto the whole scheme, and they were willing to offer Dennis a deal if he agreed to aid in the investigation. Dennis would have to give up all the compensation he had made at Vitaon and he would be barred from the industry, but he would not be prosecuted further. Should Dennis pass on the chance, the offer would not be extended to him again.
Terrified, Dennis said yes. For several months he wore a wire to work and downloaded hundreds of emails and documents to aid the Feds in their case. In return, he got to keep his freedom, but lost his livelihood.
The biggest blow was when Vanessa left him. At least she was decent enough to give him back the ring. As much as it had hurt him, Dennis knew that he would need every penny he could scrape. His father had proclaimed him a disgrace to the family. He had never objected to all those checks Dennis had sent back home, but now that the cash register was no longer ringing, Dennis had become the black sheep of the family.
In a gesture of generosity that was enough to break Dennis’s heart, Terrance Stanton had come to his aid by hiring the best litigation lawyer to represent Dennis and make sure that the Feds would indeed keep the deal they had promised Dennis. Terrance had wanted to pay the bills, but Dennis would not have that. With the sale of his apartment, Vanessa’s ring, and other luxury items which had become irrelevant in his dire situation, Dennis was able to cover his legal costs.
When the whole ordeal was over, Dennis sat on the floor of his five hundred square feet studio in Soho. If he lived modestly, he had enough money in his bank account to sustain him for about a year, which was not much at all, as he had no idea what he was going to do now.
A knock on the door brought Dennis out of his reverie. When he saw Terrance Stanton on the threshold, he nearly burst into tears.
“I’m so ashamed,” Dennis had whispered. “I’m so ashamed of what I have done.”
“The only thing you are guilty of Dennis is being naïve. You have not done anything to be ashamed of – Vitaon’s owners did.”
“But I worked for them.”
“You were young and hungry, and they lured you in. Part of it was my fault – I should have prepared you better for this life.” Terrance looked away. “We all make mistakes, Dennis. I’ve made plenty myself. Have you ever wondered why I do all these things for charity? Why I run that scholarship fund?”
“Because you want to help people; because you are a good person, the kind of person I wanted to become, but failed.”
Terrance sighed. “Ah, Dennis, do not be so hard on yourself. What do you really know about me? Do you know that I have a son who died from a drug overdose?”
Dennis shook his head, stunned.
Terrance looked down, as though afraid to meet Dennis’s eyes. “I was not always the level-headed man I am now. The corporate game is a jungle, and if you’re not careful, it will suck you right in. I had no time for my family, arrogantly believing that if I provided for them financially, that would be enough. But the truth of the matter was that my career was the focal point of my life. I was in the middle of a merger when Jack overdosed for the first time. He was sixteen years old at the time.” Terrance shook his head. “I could not break away from the deal – I had to be at work. I thought I had fixed things when I got Jack into a first-grade rehab program. He seemed to get better, and then, one day, we got a call from the police. Jack had overdosed at a friend’s party. He was eighteen years old.”
“I’m so sorry, Terrance. I didn’t know.” Dennis was at a loss for words. His own torment seemed meaningless compared to that of his mentor’s.
“You don’t have to pity me, Dennis. I don’t deserve it. I told you my story so that you would understand that we all make mistakes. You’ve made a mistake – a costly one, no doubt. The question is, what you are going to do now? You can make amends and put the whole thing behind you. You are very young, Dennis. You can start your life over.”
The next day, Dennis received a call from the Feds offering him employment as a consultant for the white collar crime division. To this day, Dennis was not sure if Terrance Stanton had had a hand in this offer, but when he received it, Dennis knew it was his chance at redemption.
He threw himself into the work relentlessly. His knowledge of the industry gave him an upper hand when it came to ferreting out frauds. Unlike the majority of the investigators, Dennis actually understood the complicated financial terms. For three years he toiled for the Feds. The pay was not much, but Dennis had preserved and amplified the savings he had from his days as a trader: he was no longer trading professionally, but that did not preclude him from managing his own investments, and his savings had grown nicely. When the Treasury started a new investigations unit, his supervisor at the FBI recommended Dennis for employment and he was hired as senior investigator.
He had reclaimed his place as a decent member of the society, but his downfall would always be a part of his past. His life was simple now, with two major principles: no lavish spending and no getting close to women. An occasional fling was a welcome distraction, but no woman would ever hurt him the way Vanessa had.
Dennis rubbed his forehead. It was almost one a.m. His eyes were burning from hours of staring at the computer screen, and his head was splitting from the memories of his haunted past. Dennis would see to it that Bostoff and his scheming clients got justice, if only to stop them from luring another hopeful, wide-eyed kid into working for them.
Chapter 14
Janet frowned at the new accounts folders spread over her desk. The clients that had caught Janet’s eye were Emperial, Creaton, Rigel, Gemini, and Sphinx. All five were hedge funds, and all five were missing anti-money laundering certifications, tax identification, and ownership structure information. Janet had done some preliminary background checks on the five clients in question – these days there was no limit to the amount of information on
e could find on the Internet – and found that every single one of these clients had pending litigation against them. Emperial appeared to be the most notorious of the group, with several financial blogs alluding to Emperial’s having had a hand in the recent price decline of several well-known stocks. Apparently, this information, which Janet had found via a simple Google search, had escaped the attention of Bostoff Securities’ Operations team. Either that or Bostoff Securities employed due diligence parameters that were way below the industry standards.
Now Janet was thinking of the best way to present her findings to Lisa. Lisa’s initial assignment to Janet only included checking the verbiage of the new account forms, but Janet had slipped into her old investigative shoes, digging and foraging for facts. The only problem was that Janet no longer worked for the DA’s office. Through her own initiative, she had unearthed deficiencies in Bostoff’s operations, and now she had to find a way to fix them.
Janet took a deep breath and gathered her files. She was not going to delay speaking with Lisa a moment longer, even if that meant upsetting Lisa’s bridal mood.
The door to Lisa’s office was closed. Janet was glad of the excuse to put off the unpleasant task, but to satisfy her conscience, she gingerly knocked on the door.
“Come in!” Lisa called through the door.
Janet forced herself to straighten her back and open the door.
Lisa was on the phone with her legs propped on her desk. She motioned for Janet to sit down.
“Yes.” Lisa waved her hand impatiently. “I was calling to confirm my appointment for a facial – yes, today at five. Perfect, thank you.” With a groan, Lisa hung up. “These people have no idea of customer service. They charge five hundred dollars per visit and have the nerve to put you on hold!”
Janet nodded politely. She did not really have much to say on the subject of a five-hundred-dollar facial, but the mysterious processes it involved had to be worth it.
“I know – five hundred dollars is a lot, but they are really very good. It’s this Japanese place, and after they do their magic, your skin literally glows. I only go there for special occasions, and next week is my and Paul’s company engagement party. I would have preferred an appointment next week, but they only had a slot for today, so I’ll sneak out a little early. You’ve got my back, right?”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” Lisa sighed. “And here I was hoping that after I got engaged, I would not have to ask a question like that, but somehow Paul has gotten it into his head that I actually enjoy working here. He thinks I want to contribute to the company.” Lisa rolled her eyes. “I guess I should take credit for that. I’ve always been a good actress. Remember the time I played Juliet in our high school play?”
“I remember.” Janet struggled to keep a straight face: Lisa had recited her lines monotonously, but the low-cut bust line of her costume had more than made up for that lapse, at least with the male audience.
“Those were the days: we were so full of hope and promise…” Lisa looked away wistfully. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep my act up until Paul and I tie the knot. Once I’m Mrs. Bostoff, I’ll be home free. But enough about me. How are you doing? Everything okay?”
“Actually, Lisa, I wanted to talk to you about the new accounts project…”
“Ah, yes, that’s right; how’s that going?”
“Well, I found some things that may be of concern…”
“Is the form wording inadequate? Are we missing any items that we should be asking for?”
“The wording is perfect, but…”
“Whew, you had me worried there.” Lisa mock-wiped her forehead.
“But some of the documents are missing,” Janet continued. “I found five customer files that are missing AML certification, ownership information, and tax identification.”
“Only five? That hardly sounds alarming.”
“Yes, but there is a pattern: Emperial, Creaton, Rigel, Gemini, and Sphinx are the hedge funds that we are missing this information for, and all of them have had regulatory infractions in the past.”
“Hmmm… This really is an operations issue. Legal sets the parameters and the Operations group is responsible for obtaining the required documentation.” Lisa drummed her fingers. “It’s probably nothing more than a simple omission. Have you talked to the Operations group about this? I think the woman’s name is Rosemarie.”
“I was going to talk to her next, but I wanted to speak to you first. Here is some information on these hedge funds that I found online.” Janet handed Lisa the printouts.
Lisa glanced at the papers that Janet placed on her desk. “These days every firm on the street is getting smacked by regulators. Just remember that you don’t work for the DA anymore, and in the real world things aren’t always perfect. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. Just talk to Rosemarie, okay?” Lisa’s tone sharpened, “I don’t want this issue to become our problem. Simply let Rosemarie resolve it, got it?”
“Yes.” Janet bit her lip. What had she gotten herself into? Lisa’s only motivation for employment at Bostoff was getting married to Paul, and without her boss backing her up, how was Janet to do her job?
“Oh, and Janet – did you sign the new hire NDA forms? Jon was asking me about them.”
“I meant to do that. I’ll drop them off with HR.” Janet felt a shiver of unease. Why would Jon Bostoff show such keen interest in her signing the NDA forms when she was hardly senior enough to warrant his attention?
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Lisa perked up. “This weekend, my folks are having a little party to celebrate my and Paul’s engagement. You’re coming, right?”
“Yes.” Janet nodded. She had told Lisa that she would be going to Long Island to visit her folks and there was no escape now.
“Great, it will be so much fun!”
Janet hoped that her disappointment at having a restful weekend dashed was not apparent. “I’m looking forward to it already.”
Well, I’ll be leaving soon – I need to run some errands before my appointment.” Lisa reached for her purse.
As Janet headed for the Operations area, she sincerely hoped that Rosemarie would have the answers she needed.
“Hey there, Janet.” Rosemarie looked up from her desk.
“Hi, Rosemarie. I don’t mean to bother you, but I’m still learning the ropes, and I had some questions I was hoping you could help me with.”
“Sure, Janet – pull up a chair. What can I do you for?”
Janet took a seat. “To prepare for the audit, I was looking through the client files and found that some accounts were missing the required information.”
“Which accounts are those?”
“Emperial, Creaton, Rigel, Gemini, and Sphinx are all missing AML certification, ownership information, and tax identification.”
Rosemarie rubbed her neck. “When warranted, it’s company policy to make exemptions on a case by case basis. These are major clients – I’m sure there’s an explanation for each of them.” Rosemarie punched in a few keys on her computer. “Just as I thought. The information has been requested from the clients. It’s company policy to open an account while pending document submission.”
“I understand completely. Big clients have to be accommodated.” Janet made a pointed pause. “I just hope that the SEC auditor does too. After all, it’s my job to make sure that we pass the audit successfully.”
A look of understanding flashed in Rosemarie’s eyes. “Oh, honey, you needn’t worry about that. Bostoff Securities always passes all of its audits with flying colors. We get the same auditor every time, and he knows that all our stuff is up to snuff. But should we get someone different this year, Tom Wyman will deal with that; Ridley Simpson’s got all the regulators in their back pocket. The kind of revenue we’re getting from these five boys warrants any number of paperwork exemptions, if you get my drift.” Rosemarie winked.
“Of course: they are major p
layers in the market.”
“That they are.” Rosemarie pointed to the pile of reports on her desk. “This is the settlement report for the past week. Just look at the number of trades Emperial and Gemini had placed with us, and the order flow from Creaton, Rigel, and Sphinx is not too shabby either.”
The report had hundreds of trades from the hedge funds in question, but Janet needed more time to make sense of it.
“Do you mind if I take a look at these at my desk? I just want to make sure that there’s nothing for the regulators to be alarmed by. I don’t want us to get a call from Market Watch.”
“You’ll want a trade blotter for that. It shows all the trades executed for each client in time sequence. I have them saved on the Operations computer drive. It’s password protected.” Rosemarie hesitated. “Jon authorized your access, correct?”
Janet nodded. “I’ve been asked to help with the audit.”
“Great – I can certainly use some help around here. Here you go.” Rosemarie scribbled the password on a Post-it. “Make sure to commit it to memory.” She winked. “We would not want anyone who is not authorized to get access to this data. You can open the Operations drive from your computer.”