Legendary FBI Detective

New York, a coffee shop just off a street on Wall Street.

The coffee shop is small, with soft piano music wafting through the air. Luo An and Michael Brey are sitting face to face at a round table in the deepest part of the café, with no one else around.

Michael Brey, the head of "Descendant Capital" on Wall Street, Luo An had previously sought his help to buy financial products shorting federal real estate (Chapter 575).

"The coffee here is really good; it's genuine Blue Mountain coffee."

Michael Brey picked up a metal spoon and stirred his coffee, smiling:

"Apart from being expensive, there are no downsides."

Blue Mountain coffee, one of the most expensive coffees in the world, Luo An took a sip and, smacking his lips, slightly furrowed his brow:

"It's passable."

The taste was velvety and richly aromatic; Luo An's first impression of the Blue Mountain coffee.

Moreover, the balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness in the coffee itself was appropriate, so there was no bitterness, only an indescribable sourness.

Luo An has always been sensitive to sour tastes and does not particularly enjoy overly sour foods.

Blue Mountain coffee is indeed expensive and tastes good, but this faint yet persistent sour taste lingering in the mouth made it hard for Luo An to enjoy.

After taking a sip, Luo An did not continue tasting it but made small talk to steer the conversation towards the main topic, smiling and asking:

"What's the matter today?"

Seeing this, Michael Brey didn't waste words, glanced around to make sure there was no one nearby, leaned forward, lowered his voice, and asked:

"Group Leader Luo An, have you heard of Bernard Madoff?"

"..."

Luo An's eyebrows raised; he was all too familiar with that name.

The previous Ponzi scheme case, along with Supervisor Elmer coming to seek his help, although he'd never met Bernard Madoff in person, he had never forgotten the name.

A thoughtful expression flashed across his eyes, and Luo An nodded, replying:

"Bernard Madoff is the former chairman of NASDAQ, I'm certainly aware of him."

"Since Group Leader Luo An knows, then I won't elaborate further."

Michael Brey moved his chair closer to Luo An, his voice even lower than before:

"Group Leader Luo An, Bernard Madoff is currently selling the financial product CDS through internal channels.

But the price he's selling at is only two-thirds of the market price.

You know what the CDS financial product is, so I won't go into details. Today, I am here to ask if you would consider purchasing CDS from Bernard Madoff, given this rare opportunity!"

"..."

Luo An's brow twitched; every time he heard the name Bernard Madoff, the words Ponzi scheme inadvertently came to mind.

The IRS's Supervisor Elmer has already started an investigation and collecting evidence on Bernard Madoff, but no arrests have been made yet.

Today, hearing from Michael Brey that Bernard Madoff is selling CDS at a low price, Luo An's first reactions were twofold:

Either Bernard Madoff's capital chain had issues and he was selling financial products to recover funds.

Or Bernard Madoff might have sensed something wrong and was preparing to do something.

Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, Luo An remaining composed, did not immediately respond to Michael Brey but countered with:

"Where did you get this information?"

Michael Brey, thinking that Luo An was questioning the truth of the matter, appeared slightly apprehensive, immediately patted his chest to assure it was completely reliable, then lowered his voice:

"In this place, Wall Street, stocks are not valuable, the most valuable commodity is information.

As long as there is demand, there will be a market, and the same goes for information.

"So on Wall Street, information is also a commodity on the shelves, and it's even more expensive than stocks!"

Luo An frowned slightly, realizing that if information could be sold, then Bernard Madoff's involvement in the Ponzi scheme probably wasn't a secret.

Luo An shook his head, silently chuckling to himself. Indeed, there were no fools on Wall Street, only wise people who were greedier.

Michael Brey sipped his coffee:

"So, it's a rare opportunity, Group Leader Luo An, are you willing to continue investing?"

Luo An shook his head:

"Thank you for the information, but I'll pass."

Luo An was also greedy, also loved money, and also enjoyed watching the numbers in his account grow.

But compared to greed, Luo An was more cautious and careful.

Because of his Ponzi scheme, Bernard Madoff was already being watched by IRS Supervisor Elmer and the FBI, and once caught, all his assets under him would surely be frozen.

Nobody knew if Bernard Madoff had tampered with the CDSs he sold at low prices.

If not, well and good, but if he had, once the IRS froze them, that would be a huge pitfall and would cause a lot of trouble later.

"OK."

Hearing Luo An's refusal, Michael Brey just smiled, not minding, as he was merely passing along the information; it was up to the other party to decide whether to buy or not.

Michael Brey then took a document out of his briefcase, opened it, and handed it to Luo An to explain:

"This is the CDS product you purchased, including the premiums from the past two months."

The premium in the last two months amounted to 1.35 million US Dollar, and Michael Brey had already transferred the money to the bank. After checking that there were no issues, Luo An took and stored the document.

Michael Brey then mentioned that the CDS he had previously purchased for Luo An was of bbb grade, which is one of the lower grades.

During this period, through buying low and selling high, partial exchanges, and the like, Michael Brey successfully upgraded these bbb grade to aa grade.

Aa grade and bbb grade are part of the rating standards set by Wall Street rating agencies, with c grade being the lowest and aaa grade (3a grade) being the highest.

Taking out another folder and handing it to Luo An, Michael Brey, quite proudly, said:

"Previously, you used 450 million US Dollar to purchase bbb grade CDS products valued at 3 billion US Dollar.

After upgrading to aa grade, the value of these products increased from the original 3 billion to 4.123 billion.

Also, in the trading process, the 450 million CDS were sold at 473 million US Dollar, yielding a profit of 23 million US Dollar, which is 23 million US Dollar.

Group Leader Luo An, how do you plan to handle this profit? Continue to invest in CDS or withdraw it to your account?"

"Wow."

Seeing the numbers in the folder, Luo An's eyebrows raised.

He initially thought that the 450 million US Dollar would quietly sit until several months later, quietly waiting for the subprime crisis to erupt and real estate to collapse.

Unexpectedly, Michael Brey's maneuvers were so swift, not only selling the low-grade cds to other buyers, but also reverse buying higher-grade to upgrade Luo An's cds products, and also earning him more than 20 million US Dollar in the selling process.

With a smile curling up at the corners of his mouth, Luo An handed the file back to Michael Brey, saying:

"Continue purchasing CDS products, just handle it on your discretion."

Now Luo An was more certain that his initial judgment was correct, employing a professional fund manager to help invest was indeed better and more useful than wandering aimlessly in the market himself.

The past period's 20+ million US Dollar and the product grade improvement was clear evidence.

"No problem."

Michael Brey, smiling, took back the folder. He earned a commission from helping Luo An make money too, so it was a win-win for both.

After some idle chat, Michael Brey left first, as the saying "time equals money" applied literally in his case.

Luo An left the cafe and got into the car, pondering for a few seconds before pulling out his phone and dialing a number. The call was quickly picked up, and a male voice came through:

"This is Elmer."