to? Midwest did over six hundred million in mortgages out of our Chicago branch alone last year—a billion six total in all offices. And for some reason our controller, Jack Montrose, has been running up to the Chicago branch every other week lately. Something is not right here, Ted.” Slightly embarrassed by his uncharacteristic outburst, Alex glanced around the room.
“Hmmm…..Montrose. Wasn’t he Barnes’s hand-picked man?” Ted queried.
“Yes, Barnes highly recommended him when Stackhouse retired—said he was the smartest CPA in town. We interviewed several people and Jack held up well during the interviews, so with Barnes’s blessing, I hired him.”
Ted leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. “Why does Montrose say he is going to Chicago?”
“He says Louie Compano and his father made a mess of things. He claims the files are a disaster and many of the entries on the computer are incomplete and coded improperly and they are requiring a ton of file maintenance.”
“How big is Jack’s staff?”
“He has ten accountants under him.”
“But he always goes himself?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed, “Yes. He said that it’s such a mess up there that he has to go personally. He doesn’t feel he could trust it to one of the younger accountants.”
“Aren’t they all CPA’s?”
Alex nodded.
“Hmmm…well, it’s probably fine, Alex, but I would keep an eye on that Chicago situation. You might want to poke around a little bit—maybe talk to Compano and see what he knows. But we all know Louie is not an organized person. His shop could be in a mess. It’s probably just what Montrose suggests.”
Alex was taken aback by his good friend’s lukewarm support of his suspicions. He sat up, his face flushed red. “Damn it, Ted! You’re on retainer here, but you act like some attorney I just bumped into in the men’s room a few minutes ago. Something smells to high heaven here. I don’t give a hoot what the regulations say! And when I tell my over-paid, hotshot attorney about it, I shouldn’t have to sit here and endure endless references on how everything appears to be normal. I’m starting to wonder what I’m paying you for!”
Eyes wide, Ted twisted nervously in his seat. “Sorry Alex, I’m just trying to look at both sides.” He paused as if in deep thought and then continued, “Greed can be an ugly thing, Alex, and you’re right, these boys have been surprisingly active the past couple of years. I am going to request the necessary documentation on all of Vito’s branch applications just to be sure they’re up to snuff. Those approvals happened awfully fast. At the same time, I’ll request random photo copies of several of their mortgage files to be sure they are following the guidelines set by the local managers. Something tells me that these guidelines have never been put into writing. Also, I want a full accounting of all transactions by both First Financial and O’Brien and Son that involved Midwest, including the complete money trail. I want to know who got paid for doing what and when. In the meantime, if you don’t mind, I will ask your outside auditors, Dulin and Dulin, to do an audit on Louie’s office. Particularly in regard to all the file maintenance Montrose has been doing lately. If we find a rat in the woodshed, I’ll move in at a moment’s notice; I promise you that.”
Alex leaned back, sighed and shook his head. “It’s about time you came to life, I was beginning to wonder. Maybe I’ll leave you on retainer for a little while after all.”
Ted shook his head, “On retainer for a while my ass! I’m the best attorney in town and you know it.”
A calmer Alex grinned.
The ice rattled as Strom lifted his water glass toward the center of the table. “We have some real challenges in front of us, fellas. Let’s all work together and get to the bottom of this thing.”
The men touched glasses and smiled warmly at one another. The conversation soon shifted to more personal topics. All sense of divisiveness quickly vaporized as the close friends reminisced about silly pranks on the golf course and other special times together.
“Grubs up!” The smell of minestrone filled the air as the brusque waitress arrived and banged the long plates on the table. “Enjoy fellas, and please don’t slobber on yourselves.” Libby grinned as the men roared their approval.
Chapter 8
The Boston College fight song resonated through the sunlit lounge at Meridian Hills Country Club.
“Another Scotch, Willie.”
“Sure thing. Mr. O’Brien, if you promise to turn that thing off. I’m a Notre Dame fan.”
Barnes coughed up a hoarse laugh as he lifted his cell phone from his vest pocket, and hurriedly scanned the screen.
“Yes Vito, what is it?’
The familiar voice blared from the phone. “What the hell is Alex up to? He’s got me real nervous all of a sudden.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Blue and Gates sent me a memo today. Said they want copies of all my branch applications for the past three years. They also asked for copies of all my transactions with Midwest Consolidated over the same period. This stuff is making me real nervous Barnes.”
Barnes yanked the soggy cigar from between his teeth and snuffed it out in a nearby ashtray. “He can’t request information on your branches—he’s not your attorney. He works for Midwest.” Barnes coughed and waved the drifting cigar smoke away from his face.
“You’re wrong about that one. I called my attorney, Shawn O’Brien. Know him? He says that according to new regulations passed by congress last May and I quote, ‘Any and all agencies providing for profit services to a federally chartered lending institution shall provide to such institution, upon request, any and all information pertaining to said transactions. Failure to do so will be punishable by blah, blah, blah,”
“Hmmm…..they’re always changing those damned regulations.” Barnes downed the Scotch and banged it on the bar.
“What if he finds out about….?”
Barnes quickly interrupted, “He won’t. They’re just checking on the mortgage backed securities and bonds we’ve been selling. Alex is embarrassed that so much happened under his watch, so he’s checking everything out.” Barnes could hear street noises on the other end of the line. “Are you downtown Vito?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, then close your damned window. It’s hard to hear you over all the traffic noise.”
“Okay, okay.”
“That’s better. Now listen to me Vito, don’t call Shawn any more about this. I know you usually work with him, but we better leave him out of things at this point. Just call me if you have any questions.”
“Okay Barnes, but I’m nervous about those branch applications. All seven were approved in less than a week. It usually takes months or even years just to get a hearing and then you have to beg, borrow, and steal to get an approval. President Moretti’s
