LESSON: Through extreme adversity become a master of whatever business you must handle. Never, ever, ever rely on attorneys, accountants, or bankers to do the work you should be doing yourself. They must preserve their own existence and will only go so far in uncovering your truths or standing up for your rights. You must control your destiny.
The below lesson is an excerpt from my recently released Amazon #1 Best Seller, When Not If: A CEO's Guide to Overcoming Adversity, Forbes Books.
In my first case, the government alleged I masterfully manipulated and defrauded my entire management team, external valuation experts, and independent auditors, but since this sentence was reversed with a glimpse of sanity, the government chose to indict me again.
They now filed a new indictment alleging another “Scheme and Artifice.” Under the government’s theory of this new case, I was accused of defrauding six separate law firms by manipulating their attorneys to fraudulently construct a web of protection for our company, our funds, and our shareholders.
The government alleged I “concealed (my) conversion of the investor funds by purporting to have obtained prior authorization for the use of the funds for (my) own personal use and benefit” [Superseding Indictment, 4:15-cr-50, Doc. 10, 02/10/16].
To attempt to drive home this second allegation, “The Scheme and Artifice,” AUSAs Brian Samuels and Katie Dougherty scheduled another hearing to present the court with testimony from the director of the Wells Fargo Fraud Department. This executive, and reportedly a previous FBI agent, would explain how I, and my staff, took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals from the hedge fund bank accounts. Beyond what I believed to be the absurdity of me manipulating all these international law firms, this one blew my mind beyond all else.
The director of the Wells Fargo Fraud Department described the corporate check cashing system used by Wells Fargo and claimed there were no paper records of our transactions, so “they must have been cash withdrawals.”
I could see Judge Doumar’s eyes widen as he leaned forward in his seat far above the rest of us. Even he was shocked at this recent exposure. But, in another small miracle, during the massive storm of our meltdown, my small team had kept every check copy Wells Fargo claimed not to possess.
I handed copies of these checks to my lawyer, James Broccoletti. As I recall, Broccoletti dramatically rose from his chair and, waving the checks above his head, said, “You mean these checks?” He moved to mark the checks as evidence.
It was a welcome moment. The government asked the court to verify the checks. One by one, the details of the checks were presented. Here was the proof paid to the document storage company and the auditors. And most of all, here were the checks to the law firms that the Wells Fargo director testified it had no record of.
The judge and the court reporter fell back into their chairs, seemingly deflated. I don’t know how we found those checks among the myriad boxes of MICG records filling multiple storage units and document storage companies. It was another intervention by the universe that just cannot be explained.
Have a great week!
Order Amazon #1 Best Seller When Not If (Hardback, Kindle, Audio): https://www.amazon.com/When-Not-If-Overcoming-Adversity/dp/B0CKWTYSFF/r and Chirp Audio When Not If by John Kador & Jeff Martinovich - Audiobook (chirpbooks.com).
