“I had a stomach emergency and panicked,” I said quickly. “I am sorry.”
She sighed impatiently before instructing me to meet her at a larger downtown branch where she believed the staff would handle important clients more efficiently.
An hour later I sat in a private conference room wearing a tiny microphone taped beneath my collar while Agent Lawson and another investigator posed as bank employees outside the glass walls.
Diane entered briskly carrying her purse and wearing the same confident smile.
“These banks act as if they have never seen a large check before,” she complained while sitting down. “Now let us finish what we started.”
She slid a folder across the table and pointed to the signature lines.
“Sign here and here,” she said calmly. “As trustee you will hold the account while I transfer the funds to a safer international structure.”
I kept my voice steady while asking the question Lawson had prepared.
“Why does it need to go overseas if the money is ours?”
Diane hesitated before answering with irritation. “Because some investors have become impatient and are asking questions, and once the funds are in Switzerland no one will be able to interfere.”