An Endless Stream of Lies Read Online Free PDF Page A

managing assets, securities, annuities, insurance contracts, etc.) for the irrevocable trusts of Certified Estate Planners, Inc.’s customers” (14).
    NOTE : “What Does Irrevocable Trust Mean?
    A trust that can’t be modified or terminated without the permission of the beneficiary. The grantor, having transferred assets into the trust, effectively removes all of his or her rights of ownership to the assets and the trust.
    The main reason for setting up an irrevocable trust is for estate and tax considerations. The benefit of this type of trust for estate assets is that it removes all incidents of ownership, effectively removing the trust’s assets from the grantor’s taxable estate. The grantor is also relieved of the tax liability on the income generated by the assets. While the tax rules will vary between jurisdictions, in most cases, the grantor can’t receive these benefits if he or she is the trustee of the trust.” (www.investopedia.com)
    Alex “began working with Noel in May, 2000” (11). The merging of these two streams—Alex and Noel—marks a significant connection. Pause here a moment, look around and contemplate. Without Alex, the possibility of the fraudulent activity involving the same victims occurring still existed. But, what could have been the course of events in Alex’s life had he not met Noel and subsequently began to work with him? How differently would the current of his life have flowed had these two streams never intersected? Would it have flowed differently but reached the same destination?
    TWO DROPS OF WATER
    That day in May, 2000, when Alex began working with Noel was not the source of the fraud but rather a contributing factor, making it possible to happen. In Henderson County, North Carolina, Highway 64 East runs from Hendersonville to Bat Cave. Along the way, it passes through the picturesque, apple-farming community of Edneyville.
    There, by the roadside, the traveler will find a sign indicating the point of the eastern continental divide. To the east of the sign, rain water will flow to the Atlantic Ocean. West of the sign, rain water will find its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Whether the rain falls to the east or the west of the divide is determined by a set of variables over which the drops have no control. These variables include but are not limited to wind, humidity, gravity, temperature, cloud type and barometric pressure. It is possible for two raindrops to begin their fall from the cloud to earth side by side; however, due to the actions of the variables, one drop falls east of the divide and the other falls to the west. While on the journeys to their respective destinations, one drop could serve as part of a lifesaving drink of water, while the other drop could be part of the water that fills the lungs of a drowning victim.
    That day in May, 2000, Alex was the drop of water leaving the cloud. What were the factors which would ultimately place him on the deceptive side of the divide? How did he come to land on the wrong side of the divide between right and wrong that carried him downward to fraud, deception and ultimately—to the abyss?
    In Shakespeare’s Hamlet , scene III, act III, the concept of small events resulting in dire consequences is presented when Rosencrantz speaks:
    “To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things
Are mortised and adjoin’d; which, when it falls,
Each small annexment, petty consequence,
Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone
Did the King sigh, but with a general groan.”
    When Alex met Noel and subsequently began working with him, it was—in the daily course of human interactions—a seemingly “lesser thing.” Such connections happen multiple times on a daily basis. It is possible that on a number of levels—personally, socially and economically—those who were previously strangers can form a relationship, go forth and, through their financial undertakings, legitimately benefit themselves and others. For example,