‘I withdrew it from my bank this morning and paid it via bank cheque into Jacob’s company account. We wanted the money to be invested today, so we’d see a quick turnaround. Jacob said if it got to him in time it would go with one of their twenty-four-hour investments and I’d be able to see how much it made by mid-afternoon tomorrow. It’s incredible the amounts of money he’s making, Han, really incredible.’
Hannah’s gut churned. She thought back to Eliza and Jacob meeting with Nat. Had that all been for real or were they setting her up? Were they even brother and sister? She wished she could ask Nat more about that lunch, but Hannah didn’t know about it – only Suze from the chat room knew. She couldn’t ask her online either in case Eliza saw them messaging. She just had to hope for now that Julian would come back to her and confirm that BlueStar Financial Advisory was for real.
‘I’m confident it will be fine, Hannah. Both Nat and her friend Eliza have benefited greatly from Jacob’s generosity. He mentioned a large component of what they’re investing today is combined money from a number of his relatives. He’s hardly going to be popular if this one doesn’t make money.’
‘Can I ask you one thing, Dad? How much did you invest? I know you made fifteen thousand through Nat’s account. Did you reinvest that?’
Her father cleared his throat. ‘No, I used some money I was able to access. The amount doesn’t concern you.’
‘But it was more than fifteen thousand?’
‘About five times that.’
Bile rose in Hannah’s throat. ‘You invested seventy-five thousand?’
‘Even if it only doubles it’ll recoup some of what we’ve lost in the super fund. If it does better than double, then Sue and I will be laughing all the way to retirement.’
‘And if it does nothing and you lose it?’
‘We’ll still survive. Selling the house will have to become a priority, that’s all. Now, how about I ring you tomorrow once the investment is complete? If it does what Jacob’s predicting, we’ll be over at your place tomorrow night with a bottle of Grange. I’ve always wanted to try it but baulked at the thought of spending upwards of five hundred dollars on a bottle of wine. Tomorrow, however, I might buy two.’
‘Okay, Dad, let me know how you go. I’d better run. My other phone’s ringing.’
Hannah hung up and picked up her mobile. It was Julian.
‘You were right to be suspicious,’ he said, without even saying hello. ‘It’s a set-up. It turns out they’ve just come to the Federal Police’s attention yesterday and investigations are underway. It’s a husband and wife team who are believed to be experts. They move from one job to another, changing their identities as they go. On this occasion, they’ve preyed on the families of gambling addicts. It seems they assume that these people are already in debt and have families that want to help. They set it up so they give you money up front and show it earning incredible amounts in periods sometimes as short as twenty-four hours. The gambler then enlists their friends and family to invest, and when this money is deposited into the account, it disappears. They’ve had close to six hundred thousand invested in the past two days, which our guys believe is about to disappear.’
‘Seventy-five of it belongs to my dad and his wife.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that, Hannah. You might want to go and visit them before they find out themselves. We believe that all traces of Jacob and Eliza, as they go by, will disappear in the next twelve to twenty-four hours, along with the money.’
‘Surely if they’re being watched then the money can be frozen somewhere?’
‘I’d like to think that will be the case, but I can’t guarantee it. If they’re clever, that account your father invested into will have been instantly rerouted to a Swiss bank account or another offshore account that’s difficult to trace. They’ve also made it very difficult to track them down. They are a very well-protected online presence. The police don’t know who they are.’
‘Really? But they met with my sister. Had drinks with her. If the police are monitoring the situation, wouldn’t they know that? Surely they’ve read the chat room conversations?’
Julian was silent for a moment. ‘I’ll need to check, but yes, I would think the police are aware. As I said, they are monitoring the situation. But I’ll pass it on anyway. Do you know the details of where and when?’
Hannah thought back to the chat room conversation about the meet-up. ‘Yes, it was at The Winery in Richmond the Saturday before last. Nat met them at about two o’clock but, in theory, Jacob and Eliza had lunch there beforehand. They wanted me to go too, but I declined. That was all detailed in the chat room.’
‘So, you don’t know what Eliza looks like?’
‘No, but Nat does. Do you want to speak to her?’
‘I’ll chat with my contact at the police. I imagine they have plans to contact Nat or will want to encourage another meet-up. That would be the easiest way to catch these two.’
‘If you don’t catch them, you’re suggesting the money could be gone for good?’
‘It’s the most likely situation. For now, inform anyone in your family who was investing to stop immediately.’
Hannah was doing her best to digest all this information. Her father might have lost seventy-five thousand dollars, digging himself into an even bigger hole than he was already in. And she hated that she’d be the one who’d have to tell her sister. Nat was finally feeling like she was getting her life and finances together. Finding out that she was back at square one was going to be hard. But was it all lost? What if there was a way she could lead the Federal Police straight to Eliza?
Hannah couldn’t sit at work any longer. She went and saw her manager and explained she had some unexpected family issues and would need to work from home for the afternoon. Martin was sympathetic and assured her it was no problem.
She phoned her father as she pulled out of No Risk’s car park and organised for her and Nat to come and see him early that evening. She didn’t go into any detail other than there was an issue with Jacob’s company she needed to discuss, and her father needed to promise her he wouldn’t invest any more in the interim.
Next, she called Nat. She knew her sister was going to hate her for this. She’d somehow decide what Jacob had done was Hannah’s fault. Still, she needed to know, and there was no easy way around it.
‘Why do I need to be at Dad’s at six?’
‘It’s about the investments. I’ve found out a few things about Jacob’s company and need to talk to you and Dad.’
‘Why? What have you found out?’
‘I’d rather talk to you in person. But Nat, don’t invest any of your own money until we’ve met tonight.’
‘I wasn’t planning to. About an hour ago I withdrew the balance of my account. I decided I wasn’t going to get greedy. Part of it is Dad’s, so once it’s cleared in my account, I’ll be able to give that to him.’
Hannah could hear the pride in Nat’s voice and hated knowing that there was not going to be any money for Nat to repay her father with. She didn’t respond to the comment, merely confirming that Nat would be at their father’s before she hung up.