The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,83
and my clients.”
Ava began circling Cameron. “Now, obviously I want the money returned. But before we get into the mechanics of how you’re going to make that happen, I want you to talk to me about Bank Linno. I’m curious — no, actually, more than curious — about how a backwater Indonesian bank managed to build such a large equity base in such a short period of time with a Scotsman running it. I’d like to know who owns the bank. I’d like to know why you opened a branch in Toronto, of all places, and how a bank from Surabaya thought it could compete and make money in New York and Rome and wherever else you are overseas.”
Cameron sat still. Ava knew she’d thrown a lot at him and it was time to back up. “Andy, I’m going to take the tape off your mouth. When I do, I’m going to start asking you specific questions and I expect you to start giving me specific answers. If it goes well, then you can take your Porsche and be on your way.” She reached from behind and ripped off the tape.
The first words from his mouth were, “This is fucking crazy.”
“That’s not a good start,” she cautioned.
“I don’t know half of what you’re talking about,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Well, let’s talk about the half you do know about. Fred Purslow, for example. Were you acquainted with him?”
“No.”
“You’ve never heard the name?”
He hesitated.
“Don’t think you can lie to me,” Ava said.
“I heard the name.”
“That’s all?”
“He was an employee, low-grade. I had no reason to know him.”
“Are you saying that when he took off with thirty million dollars, Muljadi didn’t brief you?”
“That’s when I heard the name, but it was almost in passing. Muljadi said he had things under control.”
“And it seems he did. I mean, he took care of Purslow, he recovered the money, and he scared off Lam. That leaves the rather obvious question of what he did with the money. So what did he do with it?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“We were closing the Toronto operation, things were in a state of flux —”
“That is a pathetic explanation,” Ava said.
Cameron shrugged.
“Who owns the bank?” she said sharply.
“We have a large number of investors.”
“And they don’t care about thirty million dollars, plus or minus?”
He didn’t answer.
“And tell me, just how did you create all those billions of dollars in equity?”
“Our investors put a lot of money in and there was good management.”
“Of course, good management. I’m told you were a major player in the Toronto real estate market.”
“We’re a commercial bank overseas. We invested heavily in real estate and other safe business opportunities in Toronto and New York and everywhere else.”
“So why leave Canada?”
“My board doesn’t like to be overcommitted to any one market. I operate under a set of guidelines, investment limits. Once I reach a certain threshold in one market, we move on to another.”
Ava noticed that the tension in his voice was easing. He was obviously comfortable talking in generalities about the bank. She switched gears. “I want the thirty million dollars returned.”
He rolled his head back, twisting his neck. “How do you expect me to do that?”
“You’re the president.”
“Get real. I’d have to go to my board to get their approval.”
“So how much can you transfer on your own authority?”
“Things are very tightly controlled.”
“How much?”
“No more than a million.”
“Well, if that’s true then you’re going to have to get creative,” Ava said.
“I don’t understand.”
“No matter. Look, Andy, I’m going to tape your mouth again and I don’t want you to resist. Then I’m going to get my associate and we’ll resume our questioning.”
He stiffened again. “This is a waste of time,” he said. “There’s no way I can get you thirty million dollars. A million, yes, that I can do. And that I will do. You can split it among your friends here and tell your clients whatever story you want.”
She taped his mouth and left the kitchen.
Perkasa sat in the Nissan, the door open, the air conditioning thrumming. “He isn’t being cooperative. I’m ready to use the picana,” she said.
Ava had seen a picana used only once before. She had been in China with one of Uncle’s men and had located a scam artist who had a lot of local protection. They had a limited amount of time to find out what they needed, and Uncle’s man had suggested using a picana to speed up the process.