Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 181: Fog of War
"What?"

"Columbia Pictures CEO David Beigelman was arrested?"

"And Foberle got involved?"

"The charges are still tax evasion, embezzlement and check forgery?"

"No - what's going on?"

On the morning of February 25, 1978, Ethan had just entered the company with his sister when Ballmer, who was guarding the door, rushed up waving the latest issue of the Los Angeles Times.

The black-and-white photo on the front page made Ethan frown instinctively, because the protagonist in the arrest photo with a number plate was David Beigelman, the head of Columbia Studios who had previously signed the "Alien" project cooperation on behalf of Columbia Pictures and Destiny Pictures.

Although the two parties were only nodding acquaintances, and they had probably only met twice, Ethan still took the newspaper and read the report in the Los Angeles Times. He wanted to know whether the arrest of the head of Columbia Pictures would affect the ongoing Alien project.

After a few glances, he was disappointed. The arrest photo was large, but the incident was reported sparingly. A few lines of text only explained the time and reason for David Beigelman's arrest, as well as how Foberle and the Los Angeles police handled the matter. As for other content... there was none at all.

This kind of report, which was more serious with fewer words, made Ethan put down the newspaper. After turning his gaze back to his bald secretary Ballmer, he asked, "That's it?"

"No more." Ballmer shook his head and explained, "I went out this morning after seeing the report. When I came across a newsstand on the way, I bought all the newspapers today and didn't find any similar news, so... this should be exclusive news."

This answer gave Ethan a headache.

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

Life without mobile phones and the Internet was extremely difficult. Everything had to be transmitted slowly, which greatly affected work efficiency.

But even though Ethan was unhappy, after listening to Ballmer's report, he still smiled and nodded at him, told the bald man that he had done a great job, then picked up the phone on the table and wanted to call the Los Angeles Times, with whom he had collaborated many times.

But on second thought, he felt that this wouldn't work, and his fingers that were dialing the number paused for a moment. He hung up the receiver and picked it up again, then dialed the Destiny Pictures office far away in Century City, Los Angeles.

After a series of transfers, the call finally reached the hotline of Gary Kurtz, president of the film company, but the person who answered the phone was not Gary Kurtz, but his secretary, a middle-aged man with a deep voice.

After receiving a call from the company's big boss, the other party was stunned at first, and then immediately greeted me.

"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 filmed at John Bull Productions? They went there to communicate with their favorite director... He left in the middle of this month, after the snowstorm, right? It's been almost a week?"

This answer triggered Ethan's thoughts. After the Chinese New Year, Gary Kurtz did call him and said that the "Alien" project was progressing in an orderly manner. He would accompany Luke and Little S to John Bull to confirm the director. During this process, only a few people stayed at the Destiny Pictures headquarters in Los Angeles.

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

"Mr. Jones, are you talking about Beigelman's arrest? I know about this. The people from Columbia called me this morning and said that Beigelman's arrest was just an accident and would not affect our cooperation. They have already initiated emergency procedures in Columbia and a new person will be contacting us soon. I have already informed President Kurtz of this matter by fax. Maybe it's because of the time difference, so he hasn't contacted you yet?"

Ethan was relieved by this result.

'Does Colombia still have emergency procedures?'

"As expected of a Hollywood mogul!"

'It's reliable!'

Since the arrest of the head of Columbia Studios would not affect the cooperation, Ethan no longer cared about the case. Whether the other party evaded taxes, embezzled public funds, or forged checks, what did these things have to do with him? If the person under investigation was Renzong, he would definitely turn into a wild civet in the melon field, chirping there, but the melons of a working man...

He really has no interest in eating.

After telling Ballmer to keep paying attention, Ethan stayed in his office and worked diligently. Just as he was resting his chin on one hand and gnawing on the cap of a pen, his thoughts had flown to who knows what era. Then, a knock on the door startled him. He pulled back his soul that was about to fly away like a kite, tidied up his desk, and after a "come in" call, the bald Ballmer came in again.

"Boss, there are two gentlemen who want to visit you."

"Who?"

"FBI."

'??? ? ' Ethan narrowed his eyes at the name of Foberle, stared at Ballmer for a few seconds, then laughed, "Take them to the reception room, give them some tea and snacks, meet their non-investigation needs, and ask them to wait patiently. Then help me call the lawyer from Morrison Foster who cooperates with the company. I need to meet with them in the presence of the lawyer..."

Although American citizens legally have the right not to be contacted by the police, they also have the right to remain silent, which gives Furber the right to harass.

Ethan knew he had done nothing wrong, so he was not afraid of meeting with Ferbele. Judging from the current situation, these guys were probably here for the crime of the CEO of Columbia Pictures. As for calling a lawyer to the scene, it was necessary for self-protection, because Ferbele's agents had received professional training in trickery, and Ethan did not want to be in danger for no reason.

About half an hour later, Morrison Foster's lawyers came from San Jose. After communicating with them about today's events, Ethan took them into the company's reception room. Then, he found two white men in their thirties in suits and leather shoes, playing happily in front of a Pac-Man arcade machine that they had brought from somewhere...

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."

“We also supply the coins.”

"Okay—"

This development was consistent with Ethan's impression of the field staff of Forbo. After hearing the movement behind them, the two white men first turned their heads and looked at the door for a few times, then reluctantly left the arcade, took the initiative to show their ID cards, and greeted Ethan.

"Good morning, Mr. Jones. We came here just to ask you about David Beigelman, CEO of Columbia Pictures. Do you know him?"

Sure enough, these people came for Columbia Pictures.

Ethan knew what was going on and glanced at the lawyer. The two middle-aged white men nodded.

"Not really acquaintance, only met twice."

"We have received information that your subsidiary Destiny Films is working with Columbia Pictures to create a science fiction film. Is this true?"

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

"it is true."

"We want to know if you have had any financial dealings with David Beigelman, and if your company has any special financial dealings with Columbia Pictures?"

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

"Two agents, please describe your questions carefully. I think you should be very clear about what transactions are involved in business cooperation. Please don't ask such misleading questions. Thank you."

"Hahahaha——" The lawyer's words made the detective from Foberle laugh.

He closed the notebook in his hand, smiled at Ethan and the lawyer beside him, and said, "Mr. Jones, we are really just here to ask you a few questions. In Palo Alto, even if our director comes, he won't dare to seduce you, right?"

"Mr. Agents, your inquiries have already..." the lawyer spoke again.

"Okay, okay, we won't ask any more questions." The detectives from Foberle raised their hands slightly and kept pressing down, indicating that the topic should be dropped. At the same time, they also said, "Because the whole case is still under investigation, we cannot disclose many details. Before we leave, we just want to say one thing, Mr. Jones, if you receive a check from Columbia Pictures, please go to the bank to verify its authenticity. If the check is fake, please contact us..."

After saying that, they said goodbye and left.

Ethan felt something was wrong with such instructions. After a brief communication with the lawyer who came to help, he found that the agent from Foberle seemed to be here to discuss the matter. So he sent the lawyer away and called his bald secretary Ballmer into the office.

"Is there any new news outside?"

"Yes and no."

"what?"

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

“…”Ballmer’s answer made Ethan a little annoyed.

At this moment, he had a feeling that it was like playing those real-time strategy games in his previous life. He had money and ability, but there was nothing he could do but the fog of war surrounded him.

If this kind of thing had happened in the past, he would have definitely solved it easily. He would have just cried and hugged Barbara's thighs, telling the kind-hearted wizard that he seemed to be in trouble. As long as the other party helped him call the California judicial department, everything would be clear.

But now?

The phone call can still be made. With Barbara's good nature, she will definitely help if she can. But after the previous communication, Ethan doesn't want to bother Barbara all the time.

This was not because he wanted to cut ties with the Archmage, but because the Archmage liked to help others but didn't like official business, which gave him a headache. If the Archmage was doing a transaction of money and goods, Ethan would definitely look for her, but when the Archmage was doing a business of exchanging interests and personal relationships...

Favors are hard to repay, right?

But if we don't find a great wizard, things will become a little complicated.

Call Columbia Pictures directly?

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

Ask the principal for help?

This is a bit of a waste of talent. If it was just a small matter at Columbia Pictures, it would definitely become a big deal after the principal got involved.

and so……

"Damn it, why does it feel like there is no one available?" After appointing Comrade Ballmer as the media manager and asking him to continue to keep an eye on the situation, Ethan, who was leaning back in the boss' chair, immediately started cursing.

Just last week he was called a wealth-making legend by Fortune, so why does he seem to be short-handed this week?

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

This... is very annoying.

Just as Ethan was wondering where he should go to get the news, he heard a new direction while having lunch with Evelin at noon.

"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 some substantial sincerity!"

"Yes!" Evelyn's words reminded Ethan.

Now he is a landlord! Landlord!

He has already become the local landlord, why does he need to find information on his own?

"I am leaving."

Ethan didn't even bother eating and just ran away.

"Slow down on the road!"

Evelin shouted as she looked at the impetuous figure.

"Know it--"

Ethan waved without looking back.

As soon as Ethan returned home from the company, he told Thomas his needs directly. When Thomas learned that Ethan's partner in Los Angeles seemed to have some problems, he immediately picked up the phone at home and made a call.

As the call was connected, Thomas just exchanged a few pleasantries with the guy on the other end, and then went straight to the point and asked the other party to help a little. The whole process lasted only more than a minute, and then he smiled and told Ethan to wait for the news from those guys. Since Ethan was also in contact with this thing for the first time, he was not in a hurry, but what he didn't expect was that after about two hours, the other party hadn't called back.

Just when Ethan thought that these people were too damn unreliable, a roar of a car came from far away. After the sound disappeared, someone rang the doorbell of their fence from outside. Thomas went to open the door, and then Ethan saw a middle-aged man in a shirt followed him in.

When the man saw Ethan, he was surprised, but soon took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, Mr. Jones, here are the documents you requested."

'This is--' Ethan winked at Thomas.

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

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

Ethan blinked at this scene. Without thinking too much, he opened the manila folder and took out the document. The California police logo on it made him chuckle.

He flicked his index finger, making a crisp sound, and glanced down. The case related to Columbia Pictures CEO David Beigelman suddenly appeared. As Ethan read it, his brows, which had been relaxed, became increasingly tense, because the case of check forgery did not happen now.

The first case occurred a year ago, in February 1099. Cliff Robertson, who won the Oscar for Best Actor in for "Freaky Charlie", received a form from the IRS, which recorded that he had earned $ from Columbia Pictures in and he needed to pay taxes on this income.

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 told the IRS the truth, hoping that the IRS could find out the truth and clear his name.

Such a response made the IRS interested. Of course, they were not interested in the truth. They just thought that issuing fake checks might be suspected of tax evasion, and tax evasion...

Eh!
Isn't this the main crime they are fighting?
So 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 turned the case over to Furber and asked them to launch a criminal investigation into the counterfeit check case. After Furber intervened, they immediately asked the Los Angeles police to cooperate in the investigation and finally found the source of the check, David Beigelman, CEO of Columbia Pictures.

According to their investigation, the check was probably forged by David Beigelman, apparently for the purpose of embezzling 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?

A straw hat costs three thousand dollars, and a helicopter costs sixty thousand dollars a day. Can't you do this kind of thing?

Why forge checks?
At that moment, they all suspected that they had checked wrongly.

That despicable method made them feel that there might be something fishy about the whole matter.

So, after being undecided about the result, they communicated with Columbia Pictures, hoping that they could cooperate in the investigation. After receiving the investigation order from Furber and the Los Angeles police, Columbia Pictures decided to launch an internal investigation, and at the same time hoped that Furber and the Los Angeles police would keep it confidential for them.

If an ordinary person made such a request, Foberle and the Los Angeles police would definitely not agree to it, but what if the guy who made the request is a capitalist?

Foberle and the Los Angeles police felt that there was nothing wrong with their self-inspection, so they turned a blind eye to the case, and the final result... was not written on the document in Ethan's hand.

If that were all, the whole case would have been over, but the real reason for the resurgence was that Foberle received another report this month.

The whistleblower said Columbia Pictures CEO David Beigelman had committed check forgery, possibly amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When a third party appears, Foberle must restart the investigation, because once the third party reports to the bank, the bank whose interests are damaged will definitely make a big deal out of the matter.

At that time, Foberle, who had let Columbia Pictures off the hook, would be in trouble.

There is no way, when gods fight, mortals suffer.

That's why Fobole is now investigating in a panic. Today's inquiry was also carried out under such circumstances. Of course, Fobole also knows that this matter cannot be related to Ethan Jones. First, the time when the two parties met is obviously wrong. Second, it is impossible for Ethan Jones to forge a check, after all, he earned 100 million in cash last year.

I came here to ask just to remind you not to be deceived, as for the rest...

Nothing.

The report didn't contain much content, and Ethan only took a few minutes to finish reading it. After closing the file, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. When Foberle could let someone off the hook on a case, it only proved that the case was small and there was no need to worry at all.

After taking the documents to the kitchen and burning them, Ethan returned to the living room. His smiling expression made the two people present understand what was going on. Then, the middle-aged man in the shirt stood 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 is..."

"Our former governor's fourth campaign manager, long-time San Jose-based."

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

"Because this matter is related to Hollywood." Thomas smiled and said, "Our former governor was the chairman of the Screen Actors Guild, so it's natural to ask him to inquire about Hollywood's affairs, right? And since you said last year that you could donate money to them appropriately, I set a donation target of 100,000 a year. This huge sum of money makes them very happy. I also said that we like his tax reduction plan and support for agriculture, so... we have to do something with the money, right?"

Ethan had not expected this development.

However, now that I have seen the whole picture of the case, it doesn’t matter.

Eat when you should, drink when you should, and live your life happily.

However, just when Ethan thought that this inexplicable fire would never burn him, on the evening of February 28, 1978, a phone call came to his home.

"Ethan, you're home? Thank God our trip wasn't in vain!"

Steven Spielberg's words entered Ethan's ears. Just when Ethan was puzzled and wanted to ask, the guy on the other end of the phone spoke again, "Wait for me at home, okay? George, Gary and I will be here in an hour!"

At the same time, he complained loudly:

"Sxxt! David is such a jerk!"

"He can't even embezzle? Why does he have to forge checks?"

“Now Foberle has fully settled into Columbia Pictures!”

"Projects that have already started will be checked immediately, and all projects that have not started will be stopped!"

"Even we at Globe are not immune!"

"Special code!"

'? ? ? '

Ethan Jones was stunned by Steven Spielberg's roar.

Did Furber shut down Columbia Pictures?
What about my Alien?

What the hell!

Something really went wrong!

Note: ① David Beigelman's check forgery case was so outrageous in reality. He used forged checks to make money, which was the stupidest behavior in the entire industry. Columbia was also outrageous. After learning that their employees were suspected of check forgery, they decided to close the door and investigate it themselves, and then Forberle and the California police really agreed. The point is that Columbia also asked them to keep it confidential, and Forberle agreed. What's even more outrageous is the result. In reality, Columbia only found 65,000 US dollars of embezzlement and check forgery, and finally simply sentenced him to community service.

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(End of this chapter)