Bruno breathed out a long sigh.
Wayne Summers hovered in the Rosen firm’s lobby like an expectant father outside a delivery room. The receptionist had told him three times that she would call him the second the documents from Sunrise Casualty Insurance arrived. But he preferred to wait in the lobby. At 9 a.m., a messenger came inside pushing a hand truck stacked with three boxes. Summers rushed over, looked at the label on the top box, signed for the delivery, lifted the box, and shouted at the guard at the front door to grab the remaining two. With the guard in tow, Summers fast-walked to an elevator and rode a car up to the partners’ floor. They walked to the conference room and placed the boxes on the table. After he dismissed the guard, Summers called his secretary on the intercom.
“Barbara, the documents are here.”
Summers sliced open the boxes and stacked the contents on the table, organized by property. From the third box, he removed the securities documents that were collateralized by the properties. When his secretary arrived, he ordered her to check the property docs against the list they’d prepared yesterday. “Make sure everything’s in order.”
Checklist in hand, Barbara moved to the other side of the table and took an inventory of the documents. By 9:20 a.m., she’d verified that all twenty-four property files were there.
“You want me to match the property IDs against the information on the securities?” Barbara asked.
“Yes, please,” Summers said.
It was 9:58 when she finished. She had just announced that everything was in order when Richard Stone entered, followed by Karl Rice and Sy Rosen.
“Cutting it close,” Stone said.
Summers exhaled loudly as he glanced at the wall clock.
“Everything okay?” Rosen asked.
“Yes, sir,” Summers answered. “We just need to verify the CUSIP numbers and then we can order the title company to wire funds.”
Stone glanced at the clock. “That’ll take too long. It’s already ten. You can authenticate the numbers after the wire goes out. We don’t want to screw up this transaction.”
“But—”
Stone shot a grim smile at Summers. “Don’t worry, Wayne. Sunrise Insurance is as solid as they come. I’m sure everything’s in order. Besides, we already received the title binders from the title company. We know the property titles are correct and that the loans on each are exactly as Sunrise stated they are.”
“That’s not usual procedure, sir,” Summers said. “It won’t take too long to verify the codes.”
Rosen interjected, “We blow this deal because we’re late transferring funds and I’ll see that you don’t get another job on Wall Street.”
Summers felt his temperature rise and his heartbeat accelerate. He visualized his bonus flying away. “Yes, sir.”
Rosen slapped two documents on the corner of the table. “Here are the wire transfer authorizations. Better get them transmitted right away.”
Wayne Summers looked over the shoulder of the clerk processing the wire transfer instructions. He’d already verified that the seven hundred million from the company’s bank line had been deposited into the company’s bank account, as had one billion dollars from Rosen, Rice & Stone client trust accounts and five hundred ninety-two million from the company’s senior partners’ capital accounts. Two billion, two hundred ninety-two million dollars, net of fees and discount points. Big bucks, he thought. But he knew the firm already had investors lined up to purchase the securities. He mentally went through the sequence of events that would follow. We’ll close with the investors tomorrow, pay off the bank line, replenish client trust accounts, and restore the money into the partners’ accounts. It will only cost the firm one day’s worth of interest on the bank line and the client trust accounts.
Summers’s body trembled with excitement. Once the line of credit is paid off and the trust funds repaid, the final part of the deal will be complete, and my bonus will have been earned. Almost eleven million dollars. Not for the first time did he think about taking the bonus, paying his taxes, and moving back to his hometown of Las Cruces, New Mexico. I’ll be a hotshot in Las Cruces with that kind of money.
The wire instructions to the company’s bank went out at 10:05, a few minutes past the time Joseph Campbell had demanded. Summers held his breath, worried for a moment that Campbell might call and cancel the deal. He held his breath as the wire clerk sent closing instructions to the title company. Then Summers returned to the partners’ floor with hard copies of the wire transmittals.
Bruno Pedace and Louis Massarino sat side-by-side in roller chairs, their eyes fixed on the computer screen on the desk in front of them. Bruno’s fingers twitched as they hovered over the keyboard. Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes. It was now 10:07 a.m.
“What the hell’s going on, Bruno? I thought everything would be done by ten.”
Bruno felt his stomach cramp. He swallowed hard and looked at Massarino. “I’m sure the instructions went through. I expect them any second now.”
Massarino pushed his chair back, stood, and paced.
Eyes still glued to the screen, Bruno tried to be calm, but he was just about to pace along with Massarino when the computer chimed and a message from the Mercantile Savings Bank of Brooklyn, addressed to Wire Department, First Fidelity Philadelphia Guaranty Company, popped up.
Massarino rushed over behind Bruno, stared at the screen for a few seconds, pointed, and said, “What the hell is that?”
“That, my friend,” Bruno said, “is the beginning of the end for Rosen, Rice & Stone.” He read the message aloud: “$2,292,000,000 transferred from Rosen, Rice & Stone Investment Bankers account #715-690-4503 at Mercantile Savings Bank of Brooklyn to First Fidelity Philadelphia Guaranty Company account #870-215-8999 at Roxborough Bank & Trust.”
“How will you get the funds out of the title company’s bank account?”
Bruno’s fingers fairly danced over the keyboard as he said, “That won’t be a problem, Louis. I’m the First Fidelity Philadelphia Guaranty Company. I opened the account at the Roxborough Bank & Trust.”
Bruno then sent wire instructions to the Roxborough Bank & Trust: Transfer $592,000,000 to Forsythe Capital account # A-45979211 at Antigua Victoria Bank. After providing the bank’s code number, he hit SEND.
“It’s done,” Bruno announced.
“Sonofabitch,” Massarino exclaimed. “Hot damn. What will you do with the money?”
Bruno braced his head in his hands, elbows on the desk. He suddenly felt exhausted. Just wanted to go to bed and sleep for days. “Louis, based on the financial information I found on the Internet, there’s no way the Rosen firm could have come up with the entire two point two plus billion out of their own reserves. They would have had to borrow all but about six hundred million. I’ll return whatever they borrowed. I’ll keep whatever came out of the partners’ capital accounts. But I have to transfer the money without leaving a trail. Remember, even though the Rosen firm is a corrupt organization, I just committed several kinds of fraud. The company may go down, but so will I if the Feds sniff out my involvement.” He took a calming breath, shook his head, and then slowly stood.