The Winner Stands Alone (16 page)

The young all have the same dream: to save the world. Some quickly forget this dream,
convinced that there are more important things to do, like having a family, earning money,
traveling, and learning a for- eign language. Others, though, decide that it really is
possible to make a difference in society and to shape the world we will hand on to future
generations.

They start by choosing their profession: politicians (whose initial impulse always stems
from a desire to help their local community), social activists (who believe that the root
of all crime lies in class dif- ferences), artists (who believe theres no hope at all and
that well just have to start again from zero) . . . and policemen.

Savoy had been sure he could be a useful member of society. Having read a great deal of
detective fiction, he imagined that once the baddies were all behind bars, the goodies
would be able to enjoy their place in the sun forever. He went to police college where he
studied assiduously, received excellent marks for his theory exams, prepared himself
physi- cally for dangerous situations, and trained as a sharpshooter, although he hoped
never to have to kill anyone.

During his first year, he felt that he was learning about the nitty- gritty of the
profession. His colleagues complained about low salaries, incompetent judges, other
peoples preconceived ideas about the job, and the almost complete absence of any real
action in their particular area. As time passed, life as a policeman and the complaints continued more or less the
same, apart from the addition of one thing: paper.

Endless reports on the where or how or why of a particular incident. A simple case of
someone dumping some rubbish, for example, required the rubbish in question to be
meticulously searched for evidence of the guilty partys identity (there are always clues,
like envelopes or plane tick- ets), the area then had to be photographed, a map drawn, the
perpetrator identified and sent a friendly warning, followed by a rather less friendly
warning and, if the transgressor refused to take the matter seriously, by a visit to
court, where statements were taken and sentences handed down, all of which, of course,
required the services of competent lawyers. Two whole years might pass before the case was
finally relegated to the files, with no real consequences for either side.

Murders, on the other hand, were extremely rare. Recent statistics showed that most of the
crime in Cannes involved fights between rich kids in expensive nightclubs, break-ins at
holiday apartments, traf- fic offenses, black marketeering, and domestic disputes. He
should, of course, be pleased about this. In an ever more troubled world, the South of
France was an oasis of peace, even during the Festival when Cannes was invaded by
thousands of foreigners visiting the beach or buying and selling films. The previous year,
hed had to deal with four cases of suicide (these involved about fifteen pounds of
paperwork) and two violent attacks that had ended in death. And now there had been likely
two deaths in a matter of hours. What was going on?

The bodyguards had disappeared before
they could even give a statement, and Savoy made a mental note to send a written
reprimandas soon as he had timeto the officers in charge of the case. After all, they had
let slip the only two witnesses to what had hap- pened, because the woman in the waiting
room clearly knew nothing. It took him no time at all to establish that she had been
standing some way away when the poison had been administered, and that all she wanted was
to take advantage of the situation to get close to a famous film distributor. All he has
to do now is to read more paper.

Hes sitting in the hospital waiting room with two reports before him. The first, written
by the doctor on duty, consists of two pages of boring technical details, analyzing the
damage to the organism of the man now in the intensive care unit: poisoning by an unknown
sub- stance (currently being studied in the laboratory) and which was in- jected into the
bloodstream through a needle that perforated the left lumbar region. The only agent on the
list of poisons capable of provok- ing such a rapid and violent reaction is strychnine,
but this normally sends the body into convulsions. According to the security men in the
tent, and as was confirmed both by the paramedics and by the woman in the waiting room,
there were no such symptoms. On the contrary, they had noticed an immediate paralysis of
the muscles and a stiffening of the chest, and the victim had been able to be carried from
the tent without attracting the attention of the other guests.

The second, much longer report was from the EPCTF (European Police Chiefs Task Force) and
Europol, who had been following the victims every move since he set foot on European soil.
The agents were taking turns during the surveillance, and, at the time of the in- cident,
the victim was being watched by a black agent originally from Guadeloupe, but who looked
Jamaican.

Even so, the person charged with watching him noticed nothing. Or, rather, at that precise
moment, his view was partially blocked by a man walking past holding a glass of pineapple
juice.

Although the victim had no police record and was known in the movie world as one of the
few revolutionary film distributors around, his business was, in fact, just a front for
something far more profitable. According to Europol, Javits Wild had been just another
second-rate film producer; then, five years ago, he was recruited by a cartel special-
izing in the distribution of cocaine in the Americas to help them change dirty money into
clean.

Its starting to get interesting.

For the first time, Savoy feels pleased by what hes reading. He may have an important case
on his hands, far removed from the routine of fly-tipping, domestic disputes, holiday
apartments being burgled, and those two murders a year. He knows how these things work. He knows what the report is talking about. Traffickers
earn fortunes from selling their products, but because they cant show where that money
came from, they cant open bank accounts; buy apartments, cars, or jewels; or transfer
large sums of money from one country to another because the government is sure to ask: How
did this guy get to be so rich? Where did he earn all this money?

To overcome this obstacle, they use a financial mechanism known as money laundering, that
is, transforming money earned by criminal means into respectable financial assets which
can then become part of the economic system and generate still more money. The expression
is said to have originated with the Chicago gangster Al Capone, who bought a chain of
laundries known as the Sanitary Cleaning Shops and then used those shops as a front for
the money he was earning from the illegal sale of drinks during the Prohibition Era. So if
anyone asked him how he came to be so rich, he could always say: People are wash- ing more
clothes than ever. This line of business has turned out to be a really good investment.

He did everything right, thought Savoy, apart from forgetting to file a tax return.

Money laundering was used not only for drugs, but for many other things: politicians
getting commission on the over-invoicing of construc- tion work, terrorists needing to
finance operations in various parts of the world, companies wanting to conceal profits and
losses from sharehold- ers, individuals who deem income tax to be an unacceptable
invention. Once, all you had to do was open a numbered account in a tax haven, but then
governments started drawing up a series of mutual collaboration treaties, and the money
launderers had to adapt to these new times.

One thing was certain, however: the criminals were always several steps ahead of the
authorities and the tax inspectors.

How does it work now? Well, in a far more elegant, sophisticated, and creative way. They
just have to follow three clear stages: placement, layering, and integration. Take several
oranges, make some juice, and serve it upno one need ever suspect where the fruit came
from.

Making the orange juice is relatively easy: you set up a series of accounts and start
moving small amounts of money from one bank to another, often using computer-generated
systems, with the aim of bringing it all together again at some future date. The routes
taken are so circuitous that its almost impossible to follow the traces left by the
electronic impulses because, once the money has been deposited, it ceases to be paper and
is transformed into digital codes composed of just two numbers: 0 and 1.

Savoy thinks about his own bank account; the little he has in there is entirely at the
mercy of codes traveling up and down wires. What if the bank decided, from one moment to
the next, to change the whole system? What if that new program didnt work? How could he
prove he had the amount of money he said he had? How could he convert those numbers into
something more concrete, like a house or food bought at the supermarket?

He can do nothing because hes in the hands of the system. How- ever, he decides that as
soon as he leaves the hospital, hell visit an ATM and get a balance statement. He makes a
note in his diary to do this every week; that way, if some calamity does occur in the
world, hell have proof on paper.

Paper. That word again. How did he get on to this subject in the first place? Ah, yes,
money laundering.

He goes back to what he knows about laundering money. The final stage is the easiest of
all; the money is put into a respectable account, for example, one belonging to a property
development company or an investment fund. If the government asks: Where did this money
come from? the answers easy enough: From small investors who believe in what were selling.
After that, it can be invested in more shares, more land, in planes and other luxury
goods, in houses with swimming pools, in credit cards with no cash limit. The partners in
these compa- nies are the very same people who first financed the buying of drugs, guns,
or some other illicit merchandise. The money, though, is clean; after all, any company can
earn millions of dollars speculating on the stock market or on property. This left only the first step to consider, the most difficult of all: Who are these small
investors?

And thats where criminal creativity comes in. The oranges are people who hang around in
casinos using money lent to them by a friend, in countries where theres corruption aplenty
and few restric- tions on betting. Theres always a chance someone will win a fortune. If
they do, there are arrangements in place with the owners, who keep a percentage of the
money that crosses their tables. And the gambler someone on a low incomecan justify the
enormous sum deposited in his bank account by saying that it was all a matter of luck.

The following day, hell transfer nearly all the money to the friend who lent it to him and
hold back just a small percentage.

The preferred method used to be buying up restaurants, which could charge a fortune for
their food and deposit the profits in an ac- count without arousing suspicion. Even if an
inspector came by and found the tables completely empty, they couldnt prove that no one
had eaten there all day. Now, however, with the growth of the leisure in- dustry, a more
creative option has opened up. The ever imponderable, arbitrary, incomprehensible art
market!

A middle-class couple, say, with little money will bring some ex- tremely valuable piece
to auction, alleging that they found it in the attic of their grandparents old house. The
piece is sold for a lot of money, then resold the following week to specialist galleries
for ten or twenty times the original price. The oranges are happy, thank the gods for
their generosity, deposit the money in their joint account, and resolve to invest it in
some foreign country, always taking care to leave a small amounttheir percentagein that
first account. The gods in this case are the real owners of the paintings who will buy it
back from the gal- leries and put it on the market again, with different vendors this time.

There are, however, more expensive products still, like the theater and the production and
distribution of films. That is where the invisible hands of the money launderers can
really make a killing.

Savoy is now reading about the man currently in intensive care and trying to fill in a few
blanks in his own imagination.

The man had been an actor who dreamed of becoming a major star.

He couldnt find any workalthough he still took great care of his physical appearance, as
if he really were a starbut he got to know the industry. In middle age, he managed to
raise some money from investors and make a couple of films, both of which were resounding
flops because they didnt get the right distribution. Nevertheless, his name appeared on
the credits, and he became known in the specialist magazines as someone who had at least
tried to make something differ- ent from the films being churned out by the big studios.

Just as he was beginning to despair, unsure what to do with his life, with no one willing
to give him another chance, and weary of begging money from people who were only
interested in investing in surefire hits, he was approached by a group of people, some of
whom were very affable, while others were completely silent.

They made him an offer. He would start up as a film distributor, and his first purchase
should be something guaranteed to reach a wider public. The major studios would offer vast
sums of money for the film, but he neednt worryany sum offered would be matched by his new
friends. The film would be shown in lots of cinemas and earn a fortune. Javits would get
what he most neededa reputation. No one would be likely to delve into the life of a
frustrated film producer. Two or three films later, the authorities might start to ask
where all the money was coming from, but by then, the first step was safely concealed
behind the five-year time limitation on all tax investigations.