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Noah stood outside Chase Bank on Wisconsin Avenue, in the heart of Georgetown. The cobblestone streets and architecture enhanced the fashion and designer shops, and upscale restaurants were on every block. The sun had set, but the area was well lit for all the foot traffic. He didn’t choose this bank at random, but because of its hours of operation. At nine p.m. on a Friday, Chase Bank was the only option. Noah was glad he wore a suit as he opened the glass doors and stepped inside. First impressions were everything in this city, and the clothes helped him blend in.
When Noah helped his former fiancée take down her uncle, a mafia boss in Chicago, she had drained the hidden bank accounts. Then, after the US Marshals had taken her uncle and lawyer into custody, Megan disappeared into the witness protection program. And if Noah knew Megan, and he did, there was no doubt she had vanished from there as well. He recovered from his wounds and found out what she had done.
Megan had transferred ninety-two million dollars into various accounts worldwide, with Noah as the sole owner. Over the last year, Noah had slowly filtered some of the money back into Arrow Point. As a result, the homeless shelter and church received sizeable donations. The local food bank could now afford to pay their volunteers with the influx of money. Noah didn’t want fame or recognition. He just wanted to remain anonymous.
The FBI would have gone through all the financial records and attempted to track all funds. Megan had shifted accounts and filtered it enough that it would be near-impossible to trace, but he knew he would be under scrutiny for years to come. That only left him one option—a false identity.
John Visser, an entrepreneur from Canada, was born.
The money was transferred into various accounts several times before it was deposited in the JPT Institution in the Caribbean. The Caribbean banking laws have been more secure than Switzerland in later years. The corporations were created and owned by more corporations and eventually a trust. The layering effect kept prying eyes from finding out any details. Through a lawyer in Montreal, Quebec, properties and assets were purchased. In order to access any money, financial loans were arranged through US banks against properties for cash to be accessible. Noah only needed an authorization code and an email with the transaction details required, and it would be done. The lawyer had never spoken to John Visser, and Noah intended they never had to do so. Everything had been arranged by email, and all invoices were promptly paid.
On paper, a second corporation was based out of Dayton, Ohio, to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. So long as taxes were covered, the CD Consulting Firm flew under the radar as they bought real estate and sold for profit. As Noah tried to burn through the money, even with donations, the nest egg continued to grow as property values sky-rocketed.
None of that included the small bag of cash stored away in a shed on a remote property Megan had secured as a fallback position. Almost another two million dollars.
This method got around foreign funds being tracked by the IRS and Homeland Security. Transfers over ten thousand dollars were flagged by the financial institutions for the IRS, but they could not pierce the veil of an off-shore trust.
The anti-fraud courses he had attended year after year came in handy at times.
He had stepped over the line, but he justified the wealth by giving it away and using it for good. The money would have lined politicians' pockets and solidified the mafia’s organization in ways he couldn’t imagine. So that balanced the internal war of right versus wrong in his mind.
For now, he needed to draw on the funds to further the investigation. Buying the burner phone and the taxi used up the last of his cash, and credit cards were not an option. Besides a few changes of clothes and the suit, Noah had nothing.
His dress shoes clicked against the polished stone floors as he approached the service desk. “I’m here to pick up a package for CD Consulting.”
The woman behind the desk smiled. “Just one moment, sir.” She pulled up the information with a series of fingernails clicking on a keyboard. “I have to get the bank manager to authorize release. I’ll be right back.”
The young woman soon returned with a middle-aged dark-skinned gentleman dressed in a similar suit, dark blue with a red tie. “Thank you for doing business with Chase Bank. If you will come around and enter your transaction code and password.”
Moments after entering the information, Noah shook his hand and walked out of the bank with a large manila envelope clutched in his left hand. Nine-thousand dollars cash and a corporate credit card tied to a newly opened bank account. The lawyer had come through in record time.
Noah opened his wallet and removed a business card.
Despite the late hour, it was time to go back to work.