Whistleblower
Page 26
CHAPTER 25
It was four fifteen in the afternoon, another meeting was over and another thirty million Euros of funding had been agreed on schedule.
Dirk Eischmann, the Director General, gathered his few papers together and left Committee Room 4/116. As usual, he took the lift to the sixth floor, swiped his security card over a doorway and walked down the carpeted corridor to his office at the far end. And, as always, he dropped the files onto his desk, opened the drawer, took out a fresh bottle of Glen Scotia Scotch whisky, poured himself a glassful, loosened his tie and took his glass to the wide, leather chair in the corner by the potted fern and the coffee table. At 4.35 pm he returned the now empty bottle to the drawer, got up, closed the door of his office and left the building.
By 5.30 pm, he had parked his black BMW in the basement car park of a shopping mall. He took a lift up and made his way to a coffee shop. Casually dressed in jeans and a white tee shirt, and already sipping a cappuccino at a table close to the main concourse, was Jan Kerkman. Eischmann scraped up a metal chair and sat down as Jan wiped froth from his mouth with the back of his hand.
To Jan, Eischmann looked as if he was trying to conceal something that pleased him. He was right. Eischmann spoke first. "Exactly as expected. All agreed except the one for the Sudan. That made sense. The politics there are too fragile."
"Coffee, Mr Eischmann?" asked Jan thinking that perhaps the Bangladesh bid had been approved and that was what pleased Eischmann.
"No."
Jan's first meeting with Eischmann had been at the Eindhoven Novotel a week ago but he had no idea what to expect next. He tried appearing eager to help. "What can I do, sir?"
"Nothing yet. You will meet someone on Sunday who will explain. You can expect a phone call."
Eischmann seemed distracted, on edge. He was glancing furtively around the mall as if was also uncertain about what to say next, but he clearly decided to bite the bullet. "Yes, it was a good afternoon's work - twenty nine million Euros granted - let's call it three million - a drop in the big ocean and no real issues. We will draw you in slowly, bit by bit. There is much for you to learn."
Jan just nodded.
"I'm meeting a Minister from Pakistan tonight," Eischmann continued. "He is here with his Central Bank officials. They seem to think a bit of lobbying might be good for them but I always remind them that bribery and corruption is frowned on. And, anyway, the systems, procedures, checks and balances are so tight it's impossible."
He paused and looked straight into Jan's eyes. "This is just the start," he said seriously. "You will learn much more on Sunday."
With that, he nodded, pushed his chair back and walked away.