The Water Rat of Wanchai Read Online Free PDF Page B

it was. More than a million pounds of shrimp had gone missing. Add close to a million dollars in unpaid invoices, and Dynamic was out of pocket at least five million dollars.
    Andrew Tam had done a good job of piecing it all together. There were copies of the financing agreement, the master purchase order, the letters of credit Dynamic had issued, and examples of Major Supermarkets’ purchase orders. He had also attached the FDA inspection report and Major Supermarkets’ quality-control team reports, and he had somehow accessed a series of emails from Seafood Partners to the packer that outlined, in bold terms, what they wanted him to do.
    Note 6: Has Tam spoken to the packer? Does the packer have any liability?
    Ava checked her watch; it was 4 a.m. in Hong Kong. She dialled Tam’s cellphone number. To her surprise he answered. “I was hoping you’d call,” he said.
    “I’ve just finished going through your paperwork. What a mess.”
    There was silence from the other end, and Ava wondered if she had insulted him. Then he said, “Tell me about it.”
    She looked at her notes. “I see two signatures on the financing agreement on behalf of Seafood Partners. How many partners are there?”
    “Those are them: George Antonelli and Jackson Seto. Antonelli lives in Bangkok. He handles production and the technical side of things.”
    “Like short weights?”
    “I guess. Seto kind of floats between Seattle and Hong Kong. He seems to have residences in both places. He is the marketer and the money guy.”
    “I take it you’ve spoken to them about this problem?”
    “I’ve tried to.”
    “And?”
    “They initially tried to pin it on the buyer for Major Supermarkets, saying that he was just looking for a way to get rid of them and buy some cheaper product. But after I got hold of the FDA's and Major’s inspection reports, they switched gears and told me I should be going after the packer, that he had screwed up the specifications and was liable for any loss. The packer was the one who supplied me with the emails from Antonelli instructing him to change the specs. The emails were very specific.”
    “And then what?”
    He paused. “And then they stopped answering my emails and taking my phone calls,” he said.
    “Where is the company registered?”
    “Hong Kong.”
    “Bank account?”
    “Also in Hong Kong, and it has nothing in it.”
    “Is that the account you sent money to?”
    “Yes.”
    “Always to Hong Kong?”
    “Yes.”
    “They could have an offshore account.”
    “I wouldn’t know.”
    She chewed on a sour candy. “Tell me, Andrew, who made the introduction? Who brought you together?”
    “An old schoolmate of mine. He met Seto in Hong Kong through another friend of his. Seto mentioned that he was looking for purchase-order financing and the schoolmate put him on to me. I don’t think he knew Seto very well.”
    “I’ve looked at the numbers, and the profit margins look thin. That didn’t concern you?”
    “Seto told me they’re standard for the industry, and then he implied — actually, more than implied — that they were getting back-ended by the packer.”
    “How about when the selling price to Major Supermarkets was reduced — still no concern?”
    “Quite a bit, really. But I still had all my costs and interest covered, and Seto told me they would get what they needed from the packer.”
    “You did the invoicing?”
    “Yes, it wasn’t onerous. Usually about six invoices a week, and with net thirty-day payment terms, we had only twenty-four to thirty invoices outstanding at any time.”
    “Why didn’t you retain ownership of the inventory?”
    “We did.”
    “Then how come your inventory disappeared on you?”
    “Seafood Partners was authorized to do releases. We aren’t equipped to deal with warehouses and truckers and the like. I mean, there’s a twelve-hour time difference between here and most of Major Supermarkets’ distribution centres, and sometimes they wanted