Legendary FBI Detective

Chapter 652: Windfall on Wall Street

New York, a cafe off Wall Street.

This cafe is not big, and soft piano music is playing. Luo An and Michael Bray are sitting face to face at a round table in the deepest part of the cafe. There is no one else here except them.

 Michael Bray, the head of Wall Street's "Heritage Capital", Luo An had asked him for help before, buying financial products that shorted federal real estate (Chapter 575).

 “The coffee in this cafe is very good, real Blue Mountain coffee.”

 Michael Bray picked up a metal spoon and stirred it in the coffee cup, and said with a smile:

 “Apart from being expensive, there are no disadvantages.”

 Blue Mountain Coffee, one of the most expensive coffees in the world, Luo An picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, smacking his lips and frowning slightly:

"Well enough."

 The taste is dense, rich and fragrant. This was Luo An’s first experience with Blue Mountain coffee.

Moreover, the coffee itself has the right amount of sweet, sour, and bitter flavors, so it has no bitter taste at all and only has an indescribable sour taste.

Luo An’s eyebrows jumped. When he heard the name Bernard Madoff, he would subconsciously think of the word Ponzi scheme.

 Michael Bray didn't talk nonsense when he saw this. He looked around to make sure there was no one around. He coughed lightly and leaned forward, lowering his voice and asked:

“Team Leader Luo An, have you heard of Bernard Madoff?”

　　The previous Ponzi scheme case, and Supervisor Elmer came to him for help. Although he did not meet Bernard Madoff specifically, he has never forgotten the name.

Blue Mountain Coffee is indeed expensive and tastes good, but Luo An really doesn't like the sour taste that is always lingering in his mouth.

 But the price he sold it for was only two-thirds of the market price.

“Since Team Leader Luo An knows about it, I won’t introduce him anymore.”

 Today I heard from Michael Bree that Bernard Madoff was selling CDS at a low price. Luo An had two first reactions:

Either Bernard Madoff had a problem with his capital chain, and he started selling financial products to withdraw funds.

“Luo An’s team leader, Bernard Madoff, has recently been selling CDS, a financial product, through internal channels.

Either Bernard Madoff may have sensed something was wrong and was about to do something about it.

You know what CDS is a financial product, so I won’t go into details. I came to you today just to ask if you would like to add money to buy CDS from Bernard Madoff. After all, this is a rare opportunity! "

 Michael Bray moved his chair closer to Luo An, his voice lower than before:

Director Elmer of the IRS has currently launched an investigation and evidence collection activity against Bernard Madoff, but no one has been arrested yet.

 Luo An has always been sensitive to sour tastes, and he doesn’t like eating sour things on weekdays.

After taking a sip, Luo An did not continue to taste it. He briefly chatted a few words to bring the topic to the point, and asked with a smile:

 “What do you want to see me for today?”

　　　…”

Luo An raised his eyebrows, this name was too familiar to him.

　　　…”

With a flash of thoughtfulness in his eyes, Luo An nodded and replied:

“Bernard Madoff is the former chairman of Nasdaq, of course I’ve heard of him.”

Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind instantly. Luo An’s expression remained unchanged and he did not answer Michael Bray immediately. He asked instead:

 “Where did you get this news?”

Michael Bray thought that Luo An was doubting the truth of the matter and was a little worried. He immediately patted his chest and said that it was absolutely fine, and then lowered his voice and said:

“On Wall Street, stocks are not valuable, and information is the most valuable item.

 As long as there is a demand, there will be a market, and information is no exception.

 So on Wall Street, information is also a commodity on the shelf, and it is more expensive than stocks! "

Luo An frowned slightly. Since information can be sold, it is probably not a secret that Bernard Madoff is running a Ponzi scheme. Luo An shook his head and smiled silently in his heart. Sure enough, there are no fools on Wall Street, they are all smart people, but these smart people are more greedy.

 Michael Bray picked up the coffee and took a sip:

“So, this is a rare opportunity. Leader Luo An, do you want to continue to invest in the purchase?”

Luo An shook his head:

 “Thank you for the message, but no thanks.”

Luo An also has greed in his heart, he also likes money, and he also likes to see the numbers in his account increase.

 But compared to greed, Luo An is more cautious.

 Bernard Madoff has been targeted by Director Elmer of the IRS and the FBI for running a Ponzi scheme. If he is caught later, all his assets will be completely frozen.

 Those CDS that Bernard Madoff sold at low prices, no one knew whether he had tampered with them or which links.

 It's not a bad thing. Once he does something, he will be frozen by the IRS, which will be too embarrassing, and it will be very troublesome later.

 “OK.”

Hearing Luo An's rejection, Michael Bray smiled and didn't care. He simply told Luo An the news, and it was up to the other party to decide whether to buy it or not.

 Michael Bray then took out a document from his briefcase, opened it and handed it to Roan and introduced:

“This is the CDS product you purchased, Team Leader Luo An, the premiums in the past two months, etc.”

The premium for the past two months was US$1.35 million. Michael Bray had already transferred the money to the bank. Luo An checked for a moment and found that there was no problem, so he put the documents away.

 Michael Bray went on to say that the CDS he purchased for Luo An were BBB grade, which is the lower grade.

 During this period, through buying low, selling high, and exchanging in batches, Michael Bray successfully raised these BBB levels to AA levels.

Grades aa and bbb are the evaluation standards set by Wall Street rating agencies. Grade c is the lowest and grade aaa (level 3a) is the highest.

 Taking out another folder and handing it to Luo An, Michael Bray smiled quite proudly:

“Previously, Group Leader Luo An spent US$450 million to purchase BBB-level CDS products worth US$3 billion.

 After the level was upgraded to aa level, the value of these products increased from the original 3 billion to 4.123 billion.

 In addition, during the transaction process, a total of US$473 million of CDS of US$450 million was sold, with a profit of 23 million US dollars, or US$23 million.

How does Team Leader Luo An plan to arrange this profit? Should you continue to invest in buying CDS, or withdraw it and transfer it back to your account? "

"Wow."

Looking at the numbers in the folder, Luo An suddenly raised his eyebrows.

 He ​​originally thought that the US$450 million would sit quietly for more than ten months, waiting for the subprime mortgage crisis to erupt and the real estate crash.

Unexpectedly, Michael Bray's operation was so simple. Not only did he sell low-grade CDs to other buyers, but he also bought high-grade CDs to upgrade Luo An's CDs. He also made more than 2,000 yuan for him during the sale process. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.

With the corner of his mouth raised, Luo An handed the document back to Michael Bray and said with a smile:

 “Continue to buy CDS products and you will handle it.”

Luo An is now more and more certain that his original judgment was correct. It is indeed better and more useful to find professional fund managers to help invest than to wander around in the market by himself.

 The more than 20 million US dollars and product upgrades during this period are evidence of this.

"no problem."

 Michael Bray smiled and took back the folder. He also had a commission for helping Luo An make money. It was a win-win situation for both of them.

After chatting for a while, Michael Bray got up and left first. The saying "time equals money" was completely literal to him.

 Luo An left the cafe and got into the car. He pondered for a few seconds, took out his mobile phone and found a number to call. The call was quickly connected, and a male voice came out:

 “This is Elmer.”

 (End of this chapter)