Reborn Financier-Chapter 21: Abscam Sting Operation

Okay this the detail, Lord Alric Veldon a Marchant who was given control over the Aschel region and it people, has been embezzling funds meant for the people’s welfare."

"What evidence do you have?" asked King Edward, his brow furrowed in concern.

"That’s where the problem is, Edward," princess Sofia replied. "We might have testimonies from several sources, including some from his own staff, but every time we think we have enough evidence to bring him to justice, it somehow disappears or is destroyed."

"It sounds like he’s covering his tracks well," the King said, his voice laced with frustration.

"Yes, Edward. And to make matters worse, he’s very clever about it. He always manages to shift the blame to someone else, usually a lower-ranking official or a merchant and even sometimes innocent people of the land. He claims that the funds were stolen or mismanaged by these people, and since we can’t prove otherwise, our hands are tied."

King Edward slammed his fist on the table. "I know he’s guilty, princess Sofia said. I can feel it in my bones. But without concrete evidence, I risk sparking a rebellion if I punish him without due process."

"Edward, I need your help, We need to find a way to gather irrefutable evidence of Lord Alric Veldon wrongdoing, or we’ll never be able to bring him to justice, and Aschel would still be a land plague by poverty and crimes."

The King nodded, his mind already racing with strategies to catch the corrupt duke in the act.

Steven, the butler of the Valtorin’s family, cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. "Your Majesties, may I submit a plan for securing proof of Lord Alric Veldon’s misdeeds."

King Edward nodded his head as he invited him to proceed. "share your thoughts,"

Thank you, Your Highness. To begin, create a fake merchant company, one that appears to be struggling financially and let name it ’Moonstone Enterprises.’ We’ll have it so that Lord Alric will be as pleased with this company as he is with the issues they’re allegedly having.

Princess Sofia leaned in, a spark of interest shining in her eyes. "How do you plan to make Moonstone Enterprises appealing to Lord Alric?"

"Ah, that’s the clever part, Your Highness," Steven said with a smile. "We will have Moonstone Enterprises hold a highly sought-after portfolio of a wish-list assortment of gemstones, silver, and gold. We will have an array of sophisticated business transactions in the form of loans, investments, and trade agreements to allow Lord Alric to indulge his greed."

King Edward’s eyes narrowed. "And how do you plan to ensure that Lord Alric takes the bait?"

"By a combination of financial trickery and magical misdirection, Your Majesty," Steven explained. "We shall be creating a series of ’leaked’ budgets each one so expertly crafted that Moonstone Enterprises falls more and more into the hands of Lord Alric. In between, we shall be using our magical nodes to create a series of little lies each one designed to make Lord Alric believe that he’s getting away with the perfect crime."

Princess Sofia leaned forward. How will they be made so convincing that they can deceive Lord Alric?

"Ah, there the magic begins, Your Highness," Steven replied with a smile. "We’ll create a set of books so complex, so multi-faceted, and so laboriously assembled to perfection that even the most diligent auditors would be baffled to find anything amiss. We’ll use a combination of the precepts of sorcery bookkeeping and plain-down-the-line old-fashioned arithmetic in an effort to create a set of books which will be correct but otherwise untrue."

King Edward’s eyes widened with shock. "Steven, you’re a genius. I don’t know how on earth you thought of this idea, but believe me, it’s going to be a success." Steven bowed too, with a broad smile on his face. "Thank you, Your Highness. I’m glad to be of such help, We do have one lord who’s been behaving absolutely despicably to my lady, the princess, after all."

****

Knock! Knock!! Knock!!!

"Young master, it me Steven, I have come to deliver what you requested" Steven said stand behind the door to kaidëns room.

"Oh, Steven, just let yourself in, am too tired to stand" kaidën responded, as laid flat first on the bed

As Steven entered the bedroom of Kaidën, he found his young master in bed, reclining. "Young master, I have just come from the meeting with Princess Sofia and King Edward," Steven bowed respectfully.

Kaidën lazily opened one eye, then sat up, motioning Steven to continue. "Stop, all this etiquette and quickly tell me, how did it go, what happened" he asked, his deep, smooth voice.

Steven took a breath before he started to describe the meeting. "We discussed the plan to catch Lord Alric Veldon in the act of embezzling funds. I presented the idea you gave me of creating a fake merchant company, Moonstone Enterprises, and using financial manipulation and magical misdirection to lure Lord Alric into exploiting the company’s supposed vulnerabilities."

Kaidën nodded, a gentle smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "And what was the king and mother’s response to the plan?"

"They were impressed, young master," Steven replied. "They accepted to go ahead with the plan, and we will initiate preparations for Moonstone Enterprises once the small details as been concluded."

Kaidën nodded also, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. Steven couldn’t help but be amazed at his young master’s genius.

"Master Kaidën, if I may be so bold as to ask," Steven asked, curiosity getting the better of him, "how did you do come up with this clever plan, young master? It’s sheer genius."

Kaidën’s smile grew wider, but he just shook his head, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just a little something I came up with, Steven. Don’t worry about it."

Steven’s eyes narrowed, but he knew better than to press the issue. He bowed low, backing away. "As you wish, Master Kaidën. I’ll see to the implementation of the plan."

Kaidën dismissed Steven with a wave of her hand. "Just do it, Steven. Nothing else matters."

Not long after Steven left kaidën room, he begins to think within himself.

"How did I come up with this he asked, maybe from the FBI’s Abscam Sting Operation that happened at the late 1970, as it was an FBI undercover operation that targeted corrupt government officials and organized crime figures. The operation involved creating a fake company, Abdul Enterprises, which purported to be a front for Arab investors, at was effective in the modern world, I hope it will be effective here" kaidën said as he shut off, to sleep.

To be continued...