Reborn America, this is my time

Chapter 181 The Fog of War
"What?"

"Columbia Pictures CEO David Begelman got caught?"

"And Fu Bole also got involved?"

"Crime or tax evasion, embezzlement and check fraud?"

"No—what's the situation?"

On the morning of February 25, [-], just as Ethan and his sister got into the company, Ballmer, who was guarding the door, rushed up waving the latest issue of the Los Angeles Times.

The black-and-white photo on the headline made Ethan instinctively frown, because the subject of the arrested photo with the number plate on it was David, the director of Columbia Studios who signed the "Alien" project cooperation on behalf of Columbia Pictures and Destiny Films. Bergelmann.

Although the two parties only had nodding acquaintances, they should have met twice?But Ethan still took the newspaper and browsed the reports of the Los Angeles Times.He wondered whether the arrest of the head of Columbia Pictures would affect the ongoing Alien project.

After a few glances, he was disappointed. The photos of the arrest were large, but there were few reports on the incident. A few lines of text only explained the time and reason for David Begelman's arrest, as well as the way Foberle and the Los Angeles police handled things. As for other content... nothing at all.

This kind of report with fewer words and bigger things made Ethan put down the newspaper, and after turning his eyes back to his bald secretary Ballmer, he asked, "No more?"

"It's gone." Ballmer shook his head, and at the same time he explained, "I went out this morning after seeing the report, and when I passed by a newsstand, I bought all the newspapers for today. Nothing like this has been found, so ... this should be a scoop."

This answer gave Ethan a headache.

It also made him miss the information age of his previous life once again.

The days without mobile phones and the Internet are really difficult, and everything has to be transmitted slowly, which also affects the efficiency of work too much.

But even if Ethan was upset, after listening to Ballmer's report, he still smiled and nodded at the other party, telling the bald man that he did a great job, then picked up the phone on the table and wanted to call The Los Angeles Times, which has collaborated several times.

But after thinking about it, he felt that it was not possible. His finger that was pressing the number stopped for a moment, and he put on the microphone and picked it up again. Then he dialed the office of Destiny Films in Century City, Los Angeles.

After a while of transfers, it finally came to the special line of Gary Kurtz, the president of the film industry, but the person who answered the phone was not Gary Kurtz, but his secretary, a middle-aged man with a thick voice.

After receiving the call from the company's big boss, the other party was taken aback for a moment, and then immediately greeted him.

"Mr. Jones? Hello, hello...Mr. Kurtz is not in the company. He went to London with Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Lucas... Isn't the "Alien" project going to be produced and filmed at John Bull? They went over there to communicate with their favorite director... they left in the middle of this month, after the blizzard, right? It's been almost a week?"

This answer aroused Ethan's thoughts. After the Chinese New Year, Gary Kurtz did call him and said that the "Alien" project was proceeding in an orderly manner, and he would accompany Lu Xiaosi to John Bull to confirm Director, and during this process, there are only a few people left at the Destiny Films headquarters in Los Angeles.

"Then do you know anything about Columbia Pictures?" he asked again.

"Mr. Jones, you are talking about the arrest of Bergelman? I know about it. People from Columbia have already called this morning. They said that Bergelman's arrest was just an accident and would not affect The cooperation between our two sides, they have activated the emergency procedures in Colombia, and there will be new people connecting with us soon. I have already informed President Kurtz of this matter by fax. It may be because of the time difference, so he has not yet Get in touch with you?"

Ethan was relieved by this result.

'Colombia still has emergency procedures? '

'Worthy of being a Hollywood giant Ang! '

'It's reliable! '

Since the arrest of the head of Columbia Studios will not affect the cooperation, Ethan no longer cares about the case.Whether the other party evaded taxes, embezzled public funds, or forged checks, these things have nothing to do with him?If the person under investigation is Renzong, then he will definitely turn into a melon in the melon field, twittering there, but a melon beating a worker...

He is really not interested in eating.

He told Ballmer to continue to pay attention, and then Ethan worked hard in his office, and when he rested his chin on one hand while nibbling on the cap of his pen, and his thoughts flew to which era, he tapped The sound of the door alerted him, and he pulled back the soul that was about to fly away like a kite, and tidied up his desktop. After a call to come in, Ballmer's bald head came in again.

"Boss, two gentlemen want to visit you."

"Who?"

"FBI."

'? ? ? Ethan squinted his eyes because of Fobole's name, stared at Ballmer for a few seconds, and then laughed, "Take them to the reception room, serve them some tea and snacks, and satisfy their non-investigation needs , please wait patiently, and then help me call the lawyer of Morrison Foster, who is cooperating with the company, I need to meet with them under the witness of the lawyer..."

Although legally speaking, citizens of America have the right not to accept contact with the police, but while they have the right to remain silent, Fobole also has the right to harass.

Ethan knew he hadn't committed a crime, so he wasn't afraid of meeting Ferbole, and judging from the current situation, these guys should be here for the crime of the CEO of Columbia Pictures.As for calling the lawyer to be there, that was a necessary self-protection, because all the detectives of Faberle had received professional training in clichés, and Ethan didn't want to be in danger out of nowhere.

About half an hour later, Morrison Foster's lawyers rushed over from San Jose. After communicating with them about today's affairs, Ethan led them into the company's reception room. Then, he I found two white men in their 30s in suits and leather shoes playing in front of the "Pac-Man" electronic arcade machine that I don't know where they moved...

Such a scene made the corners of Ethan's eyes twitch slightly, and Ballmer, who had been staring at them, stepped forward at the right time and covered his mouth to report: "They wanted to play games after they sat down. According to your intention, I satisfied them."

"The coins are also supplied by us."

'Come on—'

This kind of development is in line with Ethan's impression of Fobole's field staff. After hearing the movement behind them, the two white men first turned their heads and glanced at the door. Show your ID and say hello to Ethan.

"Mr. Jones, good morning. We came back here just to ask you about David Begelman, CEO of Columbia Studios. Do you know him?"

Sure enough, these people came for Columbia Pictures.

Ethan knew it well, and glanced at the lawyer, and the two middle-aged white men nodded.

"It's not considered acquaintance, only met twice."

"We got information that Destiny Films, a subsidiary of your company, is cooperating with Columbia Pictures to create a sci-fi movie. Is this true?"

Ethan glanced at the lawyer again, and the two white men continued to nod.

"it is true."

"We would like to know whether you have had any financial transactions with David Begelman, and have any special payments been made between the company under your name and Columbia Pictures?"

Just as Ethan was about to look at the lawyer, the two white men spoke first.

"Mr. detectives, please describe your problem carefully. I think you should be very clear about the transactions involved in business cooperation. Please don't ask such inducing questions, thank you."

"Hahaha——" the lawyer's words made Ferber's agent laugh.

He closed the notepad in his hand, looked at Ethan and the lawyer beside him with a smile, and said, "Mr. Jones, we are really just here to ask you a few questions. In the territory of Palo Alto, even if we The chief doesn’t dare to lure you when he’s here, does he?”

"Two detectives, your inquiries have been..." The lawyer spoke again.

"Okay, Okay, we won't ask any more." The detectives of Fobole raised their hands slightly and kept pressing down, signaling to stop the topic. No need to disclose, but we just want to say one thing before we leave, Mr. Jones, if you receive a check from Columbia Pictures, please go to the bank to verify the authenticity, and if the check is fake, please contact us Let's contact..."

After speaking, they said their goodbyes and left.

Such instructions made Ethan feel that something was wrong. After a brief communication with the lawyer who came to help him, he found that the detectives of Faberle seemed to be here to discuss the matter. He sent his bald secretary Ballmer to call into the office.

"Is there any news outside?"

"Yes and no."

"what?"

"Well, there is news because other radio media also reported this sudden case. There is no news because those media's reports on the incident are just a retelling of the news content of the Los Angeles Times."

"..." Ballmer's answer made Ethan a little annoyed.

At this moment, he has a feeling that it is like playing those real-time strategy games in his previous life. He has money and someone has ability, but the surrounding area is full of fog of war.

If this kind of thing was put in the past, then he would definitely be able to solve it easily. He cried and hugged Barbara's thigh, and told that person that the kind-hearted archmage seemed to be in trouble, as long as the other party called him Ask the judiciary in California and everything will be clear.

But now?

The phone can still be made, and with Barbara's good-natured character, she will definitely help if she can, but after the previous communication, Ethan doesn't want to bother Barbara all the time.

It's not that he wants to break up with the archmage, but that the archmage likes to help others but doesn't like businesslike behavior, which makes him a bit of a headache. If the archmage is doing a two-for-one deal, then Ethan will definitely find her. But when the Archmage is doing business of exchanging interests and dealing with people...

It's hard to pay back favors, right?

But in the case of not looking for the archmage, things are a bit more complicated.

Calling Columbia Pictures directly?

This behavior is meaningless, as the parties involved, they will definitely not tell the truth.

Looking for the principal to rescue the soldiers?

This is a bit of an overkill. If Columbia Pictures is just a small matter, it will definitely become a big thing after the principal intervenes.

and so……

"Extraordinary, why does it feel like no one is available!" After making Comrade Ballmer the head of the media and letting him continue to go out and stare, Ethan, who was leaning on the boss's chair, immediately cursed.

Last week, he was called a myth of wealth creation by "Fortune". Why did he feel short of manpower this week?

The most important thing is that what he lacks now is not the manpower to work, but the acquisition of intelligence.

This……

It's very annoying.

Just when Ethan was thinking about where he should go to find out the news, at noon, he had a meal with Evelyn, and he heard a new direction.

"Why don't you go back and ask my dad?"

"Didn't he often say that those congressmen are fawning on him now?"

"Then let them show a little bit of sincerity!"

"That's right!" Evelyn's words reminded Ethan.

Now he is a landlord!Landlord!

He is already a landlord, so why do he need to find news by himself?

"I am leaving."

Ethan didn't even eat his meal, so he just ran away.

"Slow down on the road!"

Looking at the fiery figure, Evelyn shouted.

"Know it--"

Ethan waved his hand without looking back.

After Ethan returned home from the company in a hurry, he directly expressed his needs to Thomas. When Thomas learned that Ethan's partner in Los Angeles seemed to have a problem, he immediately Picked up the phone at home and started calling.

After the phone call was connected, Thomas just exchanged a few words with the guy on the other end, and then went straight to the topic and asked the other party to do a little favor. The whole process only lasted for more than a minute, and then he smiled and told Ethan to wait. News from those guys.Since it was Ethan's first contact with this thing, he was not in a hurry, but what surprised him was that after about two hours, the other party still hadn't called back.

Just when Ethan thought that these people were too special and unreliable, a car roared from far to near, and after the sound disappeared, someone rang the fence doorbell of their house from outside, and Thomas went to Opening the door, Ethan saw a middle-aged man in a shirt walking in after him.

When the man saw Ethan, he was surprised, but he quickly greeted him.

"Mr. Jones, this is the document you requested."

"This is—" Ethan winked at Thomas.

"Oh, look, let's talk." Thomas raised his arm and wrapped it around the other's shoulder.

The visitor did not hesitate, and sent the documents to Ethan, and followed Thomas to the living room.

This situation made Ethan blink his eyes. He didn't care too much. He opened the brown paper file bag, took out the file and scanned it. The California police logo on it made him chuckle.

With a flick of the index finger, there was a crisp sound, and the case related to David Begelman, CEO of Columbia Pictures, suddenly appeared. Cases of fraudulent checks are not happening now.

The first occurrence of the case can be traced back to one year ago, in February 1099. Cliff Robertson, who won the Oscar winner for "Charlie the Freak" in [-], received a A [-] form from the IRS showing that he received $[-] in income from Columbia Pictures in [-], on which he was required to pay taxes.

But according to Cliff Robertson's recollection, he never received the money, because he had no cooperation with Columbia Pictures in those years, so he truthfully informed the IRS of the matter, hoping that the IRS could investigate To reveal the truth and return his innocence.

Such a response made the IRS interested. Of course, they are not interested in the truth. They just think that writing false checks may be suspected of tax evasion, and tax evasion...

Eh!
Isn't this the key crime they fight?
Ever since, the IRS opened a case for investigation.

But after their investigation, they found that this case did not seem to involve tax evasion, because after they traced the original check, they found that the check seemed to be fake.

Therefore, they handed over the case to Fobole, asking them to start a criminal investigation with the check fraud case, and after Fobole intervened, they immediately asked the Los Angeles police to cooperate with the investigation, and finally found the source of the check, Columbia Pictures CEO David Bergelman.

According to their investigation, the check should have been forged by David Begelman, apparently to embezzle public funds from Columbia Pictures.

When the fact that the CEO of a film company embezzled public funds by means of fraudulent checks emerged, Fobole and the Los Angeles police involved in the investigation were all shocked.Because they really don't understand why the head of a Hollywood film company would come up with such a low-level means of making money when the financial reporting capabilities of a Hollywood film company can crush Wall Street?

Straw hats cost 3000 yuan, and helicopters cost 6 yuan a day. Don’t you know how to do this kind of thing?

Why do you want to forge a check?
At that moment, they all suspected that they had made a mistake.

That meanness made them think that there might be something wrong with the whole thing.

So, after being uncertain about the result, they communicated with Columbia Pictures, hoping that they could cooperate with the investigation of the matter, and Columbia Pictures decided to launch an internal investigation after receiving the investigation order from Foberle and the Los Angeles Police. Bole and the Los Angeles police kept them secret.

If an ordinary person makes such a request, then Ferber and the Los Angeles police will definitely not agree, but why is the guy who made the request a capitalist?

Fobole and the Los Angeles police felt that there was no problem with the self-examination, so they turned a blind eye to the case and let the case go, but the final result... was not written in the document in Ethan's hand.

If it was just like this, then the whole case would have come to an end, but the real reason for the outbreak again was because Fo Bole had received another report this month.

Columbia Pictures CEO David Begelman has fraudulently checked checks, possibly in the hundreds of thousands, according to whistleblowers.

When the third person appeared, Fobole had to restart the investigation, because once the third person reported to the bank, the bank whose interests had been damaged would definitely make a big fuss.

At that time, Fobole, who put Columbia Pictures in the lead, will be in trouble.

There is no way, the gods fight and the mortals suffer.

That's why the current Fobole is making a fuss about the investigation, and today's inquiry is also carried out under such circumstances. Of course, Fobole also knows that this matter cannot be related to Ethan Jones. First, the two parties know each other The time is obviously wrong. Second, whoever made the check fraud, Ethan Jones, can't possibly make a fraudulent check. After all, he earned [-] million in cash last year.

I came here to inquire just to remind you not to be deceived, as for the others...

Nothing.

The content of the report was not much, and it took Ethan only a few minutes to read it. After closing the document, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. When Fobole can let people go on a case, it can only prove that this The case is small and there is no need to worry at all.

After taking the documents to the kitchen and setting them on fire, Ethan also returned to the living room. The smiling expression made the two present understand. Then, the middle-aged man in the shirt got up and said goodbye.

"Problem solved?" Thomas asked.

"It has nothing to do with me." Ethan replied.

"That's good."

"By the way, this person just now was..."

"Our former governor's fourth campaign manager, long-term stationed in San Jose."

"Where did you call?" Ethan raised his eyebrows.

"Because this matter has something to do with Hollywood." Thomas smiled and said, "Our former governor was the chairman of the Screen Actors Union, so it's natural to ask him to ask about Hollywood matters, right? And since you said last year, you can donate to them appropriately. After the money, I set a donation goal of [-] a year. This huge sum of money made them very happy. I also said that we like his tax cut plan and support for agriculture, so... you have to take the money Do something?"

Ethan didn't expect this development.

However, since you have seen the whole picture of the case, it doesn't matter.

You should eat and drink, and live happily.

However, just when Ethan thought that the inexplicable fire would never reach him, on the night of February 28, [-], a phone call came into his home.

"Ethan, are you home? Thank goodness we didn't run in vain!"

Steven Spielberg's words got into Ethan's ears, and just as Ethan wanted to ask inexplicably, the guy on the other end of the phone spoke again, "Wait for me at home Okay? Me and George and Gary will be here in an hour!"

At the same time, he complained loudly——

"Sxxt! What an idiot David!"

"Does he not even know how to embezzle? What kind of check fraud must he do?"

"Fobile has now fully settled in Columbia Pictures!"

"The projects that have already started will be inspected immediately, and the projects that have not started will all be shut down!"

"Even our Universal is not immune!"

"Special code!"

'? ? ? '

Steven Spielberg's roar stunned Ethan Jones.

Foberle shut down Columbia Pictures?
What about my Alien?

What the hell!

Something happened to the special code!

　Note: ①David Begelman's check fraud case is so outrageous in reality. He used fraudulent checks to make money, which is one of the most stupid behaviors in the entire industry.And Columbia is also outrageous. After learning that the employees under their name were suspected of fraudulent checks, they decided to check the door behind closed doors, and then Fobole and the California police really agreed.The point is that Columbia also asked them to keep it a secret, and Fobole agreed.What is even more outrageous is the result. In reality, Columbia only found out $[-] in misappropriation of public funds and fraudulent checks, and finally sentenced him to a community service.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)