The Voting Machine

Circumstantial Evidence

In the front of the room, Chen's team, Teresa and Brenda had their eyes fixed on a large-screen projection of the cable news channel. There was an election update with analysts explaining how the Nevada Senate race could tip the balance for the whole country, blocking the minority party's ability to filibuster legislation, enabling the President and the majority the move forward with decisive votes on a whole range of important policies. The station interrupted the election update and transitioned to live coverage of Chet's news conference.

"Recently, Passion Financial has once again become a subject of controversy," Chet announced, leaning into the microphone on the podium while cameras flashed. "As some of you are aware a group of outside investors has been plotting a hostile bid to replace me as CEO and majority shareholder. This investment group has spent months behind the scenes making their case to regulators, financial markets and the financial press. They've hired a vast network of investment bankers, Washington lobbyists and public relations experts. Understanding this deal would require approval from Congress and the Treasury, this group has been heavily involved in the upcoming election, using 501cs and other campaign finance instruments to fund candidates in both parties.

"So far however, there's been almost no scrutiny of this investment group in the financial press. I think it's important to shed light on these secretive investors who are trying to control a major U.S. bank and exert significant influence on the election. The lead investor is a company called CFI Holdings, a Hong Kong-based group affiliated with the People's Bank of China. The President of CFI is a man named George Huang Chen, a Shanghai-born financier from a prominent family with strong connections to elite Chinese Communist Party officials. Mr. Chen's area of expertise is raising funds within his homeland for foreign investments in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and most recently the United States.

"Mr. Chen is also a long-time associate of Passion's previous CEO Marcus Davis, my predecessor who is now serving a Federal prison sentence for securities fraud. As part of his sentencing, Davis was barred for life from the banking industries. But there's no restriction on his ability to advise former business partners such as Chen. He is in a minimum security prison and has wide latitude for communications with people on the outside, either directly or through confidential messages passed through his attorneys. Based on all publicly available records and visitation logs from the Victorville Federal Prison, we have every reason to believe that Marcus is advising Chen on the Passion takeover. I would implore the press and law enforcement officials to further investigate the real possibility that major aspects of the CFI takeover bid are being orchestrated by a convicted felon."

The room was filled with shocked gasps. Chen's men started shouting in Chinese and texting into their phones.

"Let me tell you more about the relationship between Chen and Davis," Chet continued, leaning over the microphones. "These men have collaborated on a series of ventures in software, real estate, tourism and security. When the two men announced their initial partnership in Hong Kong five years ago, they said they were going to create a new era of Chinese-American entrepreneurship. In reality, they were creating an instrument for corrupt businessmen and government officials in China to funnel money out that country into strategically significant American industries.

"While the sources of the Chen-Davis investment funds were a disgrace, some of the American targets for their investments are even more concerning. The most notorious example is a company called Secure Strategies. The Chen-Davis partnership in Hong Kong provided the initial seed and mezzanine round funding for this personnel firm, which was formed after 9-11 to focus on the vital and lucrative business of screening contractors, conducting security clearances for government intelligence outsourcing. The firm has been castigated for numerous breakdowns in its hiring check policies, some of which have led to serious breaches in national security. Why was Marcus Davis working to finance Secure Strategies with funds from a country that routinely conducts cyber-attacks against the U.S. government and American companies?

"You might wonder if this was the only questionable international finance deal during Davis's tenure. Unfortunately, suspicious transactions like this were not the exception. Since becoming CEO twelve months ago, I have conducted an exhaustive audit of the firm's prior affairs. I've identified multiple cases where Passion's international banking subsidiary engaged in money laundering activities for criminals, terrorists and corrupt foreign government officials. The transaction statements show that Passion deliberately circumvented rules by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency designed to monitor suspicious wire transactions.

"Over a period of two years, Passion allowed a Dubai trading company to send millions of dollars to the non-profit called Holy Prophet. Holy Prophet has been identified the US Treasury Department as a major financier of the Messengers of God, the terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility in the recent Las Vegas Voting Machine murders as well as bloody attacks in last year's Indian elections that claimed over one hundred lives.

"Passion's International Banking affiliate also managed accounts for executives from a Mexico City based import-export company that has been convicted in Mexican courts of money-laundering for the drug cartel Los Empresarios, which controls the largest share of cocaine and black tar heroin flowing across the southern border. In Mexico, Los Empresarios has been implicated in orchestrating election fraud and assassinating politicians who support more aggressive prosecution of the drug war.

"Since discovering all this in my audit, I promptly ended the International Banking affiliate's ties with these companies and reported the findings to the Treasury Department and the FBI. My Compliance Team is preparing a full report of all money laundering activities under the prior CEO. This could lead to further criminal charges against Marcus Davis.

"Finally I want to talk about one more crime that I hold Mr. Davis responsible for, this is a tragedy that has impacted me personally. I want to tell the story of a brilliant young woman named Gina Hill. She started out in the Passion call center, an ambitious, beautiful girl from working-class neighborhood in South LA. She became one of the leading agents in the call center, attending night school to complete her college degree. Next she became Mr. Davis's assistant in the CEO's office, learning the details of his business better than anyone and showing remarkable drive, talent and energy. When I took over the company, I promoted her to Vice President and tasked her with establishing a call center operation in Bangalore, India.

"Before I sent her to India, Gina mentioned she was worried about the things she had learned while working as an Executive Assistant under my predecessor. I told her it was a new day and we needed to turn the page. I didn't give her concerns the full attention they deserved. She was a whistleblower and I didn't even realize it. I couldn't imagine the company I had inherited could have possibly been involved in such serious criminal activity around the world. And to be honest, I didn't want to imagine it. I told her to focus on the future and stop delving into the past. But Gina knew the sins of the past couldn't remain hidden.

"Gina died eighteen months ago when the lobby of her Bangalore hotel was bombed. At the time, this tragedy was reported as a terrorist incident carried out by the Messengers of God, one of many extremist attacks in the run up to the Indian elections. The police reported that the hotel had been chosen as a target because it was a popular destination for foreign executives. It seemed at the time, she was just one of many ex-patriates in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I believe this bombing was not in fact what it appeared to be. Gina was not a random victim. She was the deliberate target of a murder orchestrated by Marcus Davis and George Chen. I believe Ms. Hill had discovered Passion's activities while serving her former boss. She was gathering incontrovertible evidence that Davis wasn't just a corrupt and greedy bank CEO, he was the master mind of a global criminal organization."

Chet face was flush with rage and his voice tinged with sadness. This was a raw, vulnerable side of the financier that I'd never seen before.

"Gina was more than an employee for me, more than a protégé. She was a close friend, someone I carried about very deeply. The cold-blooded murder of this woman, who was so bright, so charming, so full of promise, is something I will never accept. During a career on Wall Street, I have become quite accustomed to the victories and defeats of the business world. But this is a devastating personal loss of a dear friend and colleague that I will never recover from. I promise you all, I will fight with every means at my disposal to ensure her killer faces justice. I have provided the FBI, Interpol and the Indian Ministry of Justice with findings of my audit and all circumstantial evidence surrounding Gina's murder. I have urged them to re-open investigations into these. And I also expect this will open Congressional inquiries in Mr. Chen's bid to stage a hostile takeover of my company."