jumped, 20 to 50% annually over a five year period.’
He looked at me expectantly. They were the kind of returns that have seasoned investors spluttering the froth off their frappes to tell you it sounds too good to be true. The returns were far more than you could hope for from any high yield, savings or bond account, or from any sensibly managed stock portfolio or index tracker.
‘How was he going to produce those kinds of returns?’ I said.
‘Ah well that’s the trick, Lawrence cultivated a large group of young local nobodies who would each receive 15,000 square feet of land on their 21st birthdays as per generous UAE law. The incentive was that they had to build on the land within five years or lose it. They had no capital to invest themselves but for every 50 laborers the nobodies employed the administration would give them another 460 square feet.
‘So Lawrence brought in thousands of laborers and the group received more than enough land to kick-start a new development. Are you with me so far Mr. Bryson?’
‘No problems here, so then what?’
‘Well for a start these locals weren’t favorites of the ruling family. They were given one of the most useless stretches of land in the emirates just over the Dubai border in neighboring Abu Dhabi, a large ditch of shifting sand with zero infrastructure in place.
‘As these kids had no money Lawrence made a few enquiries within his new family. They introduced him to two people. First Mohammed Akbar, a distant relative who specialized in heroin smuggling, arms to Somalia, and training fighters in the remote mountains of Yemen, they go on to cause havoc as insurgents in various regional conflicts.’
‘Nice guy.’
‘Yeah, a real Samaritan. Second was an aging ex-Soviet colonel, Vladimir Orsa who had fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya.’
That guy again. ‘Tell me more about him.’
‘He made his money smuggling arms and oil through the Caspian Sea and Iraq, as well as trafficking drugs and people on the side. Basically he’ll trade anything to anyone for a profit.
‘His biggest success has been staying alive so long. Apparently, Dubai is where he’s come to retire.’
‘Do you know all this for sure?’ I said. ‘I’ve heard he’s still into arms. It doesn’t sound like he wants to retire just yet.’
‘That’s what that short little shit told me. Lawrence likes to brag and play the big man. To him it’s a buzz that these people come to him to make money. He has a penthouse in the marina where he likes to “entertain”,’ he said bitterly.
I raised an inquiring eyebrow.
‘Entertain means listen to him spout off about how fucking wonderful he is.’
He looked out of the window at the Sheikh Zayed Road traffic hurtling along. I waited a few beats as he unconsciously picked the neat little emblem off the base of his expensive pen, devaluing it instantly.
‘So what happened?’ I asked.
‘He was probably born with a small cock and his mother teased him about it, that’s probably what fucking happened.’
I couldn’t help laugh. My source joined in.
The laughter made him relax. ‘He brought them in as the initial financiers of the project. They needed to wash money and this was a perfect way for them to do it.
‘The project now appears to be underway. But Lawrence needs to give these guys their laundered dividends and quickly, they’ve got other projects to finance.’
‘So let’s see, the local guys want their money for nothing, the terrible two want their clean cash and profits and Lawrence wants his fairly sizeable cut off the back end,’ I said.
‘That’s about it. They all want it yesterday of course.’
‘Where’s the money coming from?’
‘The deposits from the platinum investors and off-plan sales go straight to them. The project continues to be built, but only because they haven’t paid the laborers or creditors in six months. The first interest payments are due in four weeks which will come from the next
He looked at me expectantly. They were the kind of returns that have seasoned investors spluttering the froth off their frappes to tell you it sounds too good to be true. The returns were far more than you could hope for from any high yield, savings or bond account, or from any sensibly managed stock portfolio or index tracker.
‘How was he going to produce those kinds of returns?’ I said.
‘Ah well that’s the trick, Lawrence cultivated a large group of young local nobodies who would each receive 15,000 square feet of land on their 21st birthdays as per generous UAE law. The incentive was that they had to build on the land within five years or lose it. They had no capital to invest themselves but for every 50 laborers the nobodies employed the administration would give them another 460 square feet.
‘So Lawrence brought in thousands of laborers and the group received more than enough land to kick-start a new development. Are you with me so far Mr. Bryson?’
‘No problems here, so then what?’
‘Well for a start these locals weren’t favorites of the ruling family. They were given one of the most useless stretches of land in the emirates just over the Dubai border in neighboring Abu Dhabi, a large ditch of shifting sand with zero infrastructure in place.
‘As these kids had no money Lawrence made a few enquiries within his new family. They introduced him to two people. First Mohammed Akbar, a distant relative who specialized in heroin smuggling, arms to Somalia, and training fighters in the remote mountains of Yemen, they go on to cause havoc as insurgents in various regional conflicts.’
‘Nice guy.’
‘Yeah, a real Samaritan. Second was an aging ex-Soviet colonel, Vladimir Orsa who had fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya.’
That guy again. ‘Tell me more about him.’
‘He made his money smuggling arms and oil through the Caspian Sea and Iraq, as well as trafficking drugs and people on the side. Basically he’ll trade anything to anyone for a profit.
‘His biggest success has been staying alive so long. Apparently, Dubai is where he’s come to retire.’
‘Do you know all this for sure?’ I said. ‘I’ve heard he’s still into arms. It doesn’t sound like he wants to retire just yet.’
‘That’s what that short little shit told me. Lawrence likes to brag and play the big man. To him it’s a buzz that these people come to him to make money. He has a penthouse in the marina where he likes to “entertain”,’ he said bitterly.
I raised an inquiring eyebrow.
‘Entertain means listen to him spout off about how fucking wonderful he is.’
He looked out of the window at the Sheikh Zayed Road traffic hurtling along. I waited a few beats as he unconsciously picked the neat little emblem off the base of his expensive pen, devaluing it instantly.
‘So what happened?’ I asked.
‘He was probably born with a small cock and his mother teased him about it, that’s probably what fucking happened.’
I couldn’t help laugh. My source joined in.
The laughter made him relax. ‘He brought them in as the initial financiers of the project. They needed to wash money and this was a perfect way for them to do it.
‘The project now appears to be underway. But Lawrence needs to give these guys their laundered dividends and quickly, they’ve got other projects to finance.’
‘So let’s see, the local guys want their money for nothing, the terrible two want their clean cash and profits and Lawrence wants his fairly sizeable cut off the back end,’ I said.
‘That’s about it. They all want it yesterday of course.’
‘Where’s the money coming from?’
‘The deposits from the platinum investors and off-plan sales go straight to them. The project continues to be built, but only because they haven’t paid the laborers or creditors in six months. The first interest payments are due in four weeks which will come from the next
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