Tatsu - The Threat

Chapter 22 - Controlling The System

Business continued to boom and the more cash Brian laundered and reinserted into the economy flawlessly, the more sought after HEG became. The impeccable reputation HEG had maintained in such a difficult business was now luring the most nefarious people of the world. Corrupt politicians. Brian had stepped into the major leagues.

Changes were made to the money laundering business; cruel alterations of trickery Mr. Walker would have never approved. To be the best, Brian took advantage of the very nature of people. Like a fisherman who knows when and where the fish will bite. HEG's more opulent clients were dropping money into hedge funds in the network and were leaving the money untouched for years to avoid the red flags of money laundering. These old money folks showed no interest in the the plethora of services HEG offered for a high-cost fee, so they weren't the biggest money-makers, but they brought prestige and status. Old money people loved the security and anonymity of Brian's system.

On the other hand, clients who were newbies in the big money world, those fresh out of the ghetto, were signing contracts with HEG for cash advances coming directly from HEG's clean money pool. Each month, these clients could withdraw up to 10% of the total amount they deposited into a hedge fund. With this clean money, these naive criminals were buying expensive cars, new homes, they were going on expensive vacations and buying the fanciest and flashiest items. All purchased with clean money cash advances. These were the fish that were biting. They thought themselves wise by not choosing to have their money laundered through the Fed because of the 40% laundering fee. They thought they were slick because they were avoiding being flagged by the IRS or the FBI by using clean money only. They were tricked into thinking that if they just limit themselves to 10% of the total sum of their invested money, playing by HEG's rules, they were playing it safe. In the end, they were falling victims to their own foolishness and Brian's geed.

HEG charged hidden fees with every withdrawal. At any point during the term of the contract if a client used up 60% of their total hedge fund sum, the hedge fund balance was automatically signed over to HEG along with any returns. This allowed Brian to become the underground cash advance of the underworld. The "cash your check for $0.99" business for uneducated, flashy drug dealers and smugglers. Brian was sending rich folks back to the ghetto faster than a boxing promoter.

Many small-time dealers swore revenge on HEG. Daily threats were received from those who accused Brian's network of cheating them out of their money when in reality they cheated themselves. They were the ones who chose to become criminals, just like Brian.

From the very beginning Mr. Walker and Brian prepared for the dangers of the business. They formed a team of ex-military special ops personnel to contain complex situations. A team of experts at eliminating threats in the most professional manner. They would go in, execute and leave no trace. Problem solved. But for situations that required a gruesome message of intimidation, Brian always called Beelzebub and his team. Another method Mr. Walker would have never approved.

The message was clear to the underworld. You could either run the risk of handing illegal funds through conventional methods or join Brian's network, but play by the rules while making intelligent choices. It took over 5,000 killings across the globe to make that message clear. Weather people liked Brian and his partners or not, everyone agreed that handling dirty money through HEG made sense.

HEG's system opened doors for all sorts of international crime and illicit operations by corrupt businessmen and government officials. Brian's black market bank had over 200 Billion dollars stashed across hundreds of storage facilities so he could move very large sums of cash, electronically and physically, creating huge profits with every move on a daily basis. No one outside a very specific HEG black ops team knew where actual cash was stored and no one person had the complete set of keys to get access to the cash. The level of efficiency and security led more and more felonious groups to trust HEG. It didn't take long for even "legitimate" banks to come to depend on HEG's robustness for some of their black operations.