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| The Risks |
Cavanagh was already waiting, Latte-in-hand as Gary Foley fronted Platters-on-the-Mall, renowned for its great coffees and "death-by-calories" snacks!
"Well mate ... in ... or out?"
Jason Cavanagh was not one to mince words - he was purpose-driven and once locked-on to his target, was as unshakable as a Terrier on to a rat!
"Gotta have a plan first, Jase. Let's take this a step at a time."
Cavanagh spun around on his chair and looked directly into Foley's face, his eyes flashing. His mood was uninviting and deadly serious.
"No! No plans! Not unless we have 100% mutual commitment to this. Do you know what we are looking at here? The opportunity of a life-time. Gary ... look at me ... tell me you want to stay in the back of that stinking and God-forsaken shack that serves as an office, for the next 20 years! Is that what you see in this? Too risky?"
"It's not that ... " Foley was struggling to put into words the fears that turned his gut right now. "If this thing tanks we are ..."
"Bugger it Gary. I thought you had more balls than that. I got news for you - let this thing slip and you will kick yourself until you push up daisies. It's a bloody lay-down-misere. The blood will be on Lee's hands, not ours. Don't you think he is covering his arse? At the worst we could be seen as 'naive' or 'unsuspecting' ... hardly the calculating culpable executive criminal types."
"Listen Jason. Maybe you do want to break out of this bloody brokering game freaking rut we are stuck in here - as much as I do - but we have to draw the line. It's not ASIC or the local Fraud squad that worries me. Do you think Lee is going to just sit back and cop the flack and not try to implicate us? Or even if he gets away with this, do you think he won't try to cover his trail regardless?"
Foley found his heart thumping as he stood up for self-preservation and common sense.
"What do you mean?" Cavanagh was beginning to settle down and think of consequences other than the AFP or a gaol term. For a moment he entertained the thought of Lee's thugs arriving unannounced in his face, and "silencing" him forever.
"Look Gary, even if there is an enquiry into this, how are they going to pin it on Lee? Even on us? How many deals go through as crossings and you never know whose they are? Get real here mate!"
"Jason! Maybe it's you who needs the reality check. This is not going to be a market crossing. This is a simple dump! Get it!? The whole point of this move is to startle the pigeons and create a landslide in BHP. Without that it's pointless. And as such, the finger points to Lee. And if he escapes attention, it's us they will be looking for."
The partners sat quietly, reflecting on the reality of what they were considering. Foley had no appetite for coffee - he clearly needed now something much stronger. The big question in his mind was: How can this thing be pulled off without either Lee or the ASX or ASIC or the AFP coming after them?
With Lee's involvement, any knowledge was "too much knowledge" and not being inside his trusted inner circle was as good as being totally expendable.
"We are already in too deep, Gary. Lee has as much as told us what he is planning. With us or without us he will go ahead. To him we are now loose cannons ... and he will want to keep his ship tidy. How long do you think it will be before he will come to shut us up?"
"OK. I think it's time we had another meeting with Mr Lee, and explained ourselves. We have to put this thing into perspective. Maybe we have let this blow out of proportion and it's only in our minds. Do you really think Lee is so openly dangerous? Do you really think he will just blow us away when the heat is right on? I don't see that. Maybe he will threaten us with consequences and so on, but I doubt he would actually go as far as physically harming us."
Gary Foley heard his own words, but scarcely believed one iota of them. Lee's reputation in the business world had grown not from his acumen around the negotiating tables, but through his ruthless "negotiations" behind the scenes, and his ability to bring positive outcomes from seemingly non-negotiable terms and conditions.
With these thoughts racing in his mind, he agreed to commit to the deal.
"I'm in Jason. Boots and all. But we have to cover our arses any way we can. And I mean every step of the way. I respect Lee the way I respect a snake, and I want him to realise we want as much distance from him as he does from us. Get it?"
"Yeah ... yeah. That's it. We can do this if we keep our distance. If we convince Lee that we don't want to associate him with our business in this, maybe we can stay under the radar."
Both men were now reflecting on the gravity of the deal, and ready to face up soberly to their own part in it. This was not going to be any easy get-rich-quick move. But with careful planning it could deliver them a tidy nest-egg ... far more than they could hope to make in 5 years in this brokerage.
It was not the commission they were looking at - that was chicken-feed. It was the derivatives income that would flood their accounts that was attracting them like the Sirens of old attracted the Argonauts.
And like the Argonauts, they knew that the temptation could be a fatal attraction.
Jason Cavanagh's mobile burst into strains of "Music-Box Dancer."
"It's Lee!"
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To be continued ...
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; "The Risks")
