50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 410 Loan Due
To be fair, the Lex Brothers Steamship Company took risks to make so much money.

The distribution channels are theirs, the market is theirs, and the personnel are theirs. If they face suppression from the three major chemical groups in the future, they will be the ones to bear the consequences. They deserve to earn so much.

Sun Zhiwei had already warned the family that this business wouldn't last.

Therefore, after learning that the first deal had been completed and the payment had been fully received, a large number of ocean-going freighters began to depart from their homes and sail to North America one after another.

Each cargo ship was fully loaded with fertilizer from Japan and was speeding towards the United States.

This is blatant robbery; they want to grab as much money as possible before the three major chemical groups can react.

To maintain secrecy, subsequent ships were no longer limited to Seattle, but instead spread across various ports throughout the West Coast, flying the Lex Brothers Shipping Company flag and unloading cargo.

Sun Zhiwei stayed in Seattle until the end of April, and only set off for New York after the Liulinhai ship, fully loaded with 36,000 tons of wheat, departed from the port.

Because this month was the due date for the loan from the jewelry store, and the other party had not returned the gold as agreed, he was preparing to take over the jewelry store.

Last October, he lent 10 ounces of gold to Toby Bradley of Magnificent Jewels.

The other party promised to repay all the gold within 6 months, but now 6 months have passed and they haven't even made a phone call.

Sun Zhiwei estimated that Toby probably wanted to renege on his debt.

Unfortunately, he only agreed to lend the gold because the other party used exquisite jewelry as collateral, and the agreement clearly stated that he couldn't renege on it.

On May 2nd, Sun Zhiwei arrived at his home in Central Park, New York. He didn't go directly to Toby; there was no longer any need.

Those gamblers are probably still clinging to a gambler's wishful thinking, hoping that Sun Zhiwei might die in an accident outside, and then he won't have to pay off his debts.

Upon returning home, Sun Zhiwei first cleaned up the dust in the house, and then directly called Ms. Daisy of the HOA to ask her to send someone to clean the house.

This is his routine every time he comes back. He can clean the dust inside the house himself, but the lawn and trees outside need to be trimmed by workers.

Then he made another call to Cheng Damin, the president of Cathay Bank in Los Angeles.

He needs Cathay Bank's New York branch to help him reclaim Toby Bradley's Magnificent Jewellery.

When it comes to recovering assets from a debtor, only two types of reputable organizations can do it well: law firms and banks.

This formal debt settlement method is not only time-consuming but also expensive.

If he wanted to speed things up, he could also have one of the five major families in New York handle the business.

But the five families wanted more than just money; they also needed to pay an additional fee for the subsequent transfer of the jewelry store.

He might have hesitated more before taking over Cathay Bank.

Now that he has his own bank to help him, he naturally won't get involved with those underworld figures anymore.

It's not that he's afraid, but rather that getting involved in the dark side would tarnish his public image.

He remembered that the five major families were now being watched by the FBI, and a legendary agent had infiltrated one of them and had already risen to a high position.

Getting involved in the businesses of the five families now would be unwise and would easily attract the attention of the FBI.

It's all about money. As long as he can legally obtain the magnificent jewelry, whether he spends a little more or a little less money is not important to him.

Magnificent Jewelry will be a key part of his foray into the downstream gold industry, and also the best way to quickly clean gold from the space.

He spent 2.8 tons of gold and more than six months setting this trap, showing he was determined to get his hands on the magnificent jewels. The next morning, Huang Mingyu, the president of Cathay Bank's New York branch, contacted Sun Zhiwei.

As the bank president, he naturally had to personally oversee the execution of the orders issued by the headquarters president, Cheng Damin.

In particular, Cheng Damin had made it clear that this Mr. James was the new major shareholder of the bank, so Huang Mingyu naturally wanted to curry favor with him.

At 10 a.m., Huang Mingyu arrived at Sun Zhiwei's home with the bank's accountant and lawyer at the agreed time.

"Chairman, these are our branch's finance manager, Rand Morgan, and legal counsel, Orfinn Smith. They are the best accountants and lawyers, and they will definitely be able to help you complete your task perfectly."

"Okay, thank you then, Mingyu."

"This is the loan agreement, and this is the basic information of the Magnificent Jewelry. Mr. Smith, Mr. Morgan, you can take a look."

Huang Mingyu took the documents and quickly reviewed the contents with the accountant and lawyer. They were stunned when they saw that Chairman James had lent out 10 ounces of gold last year.

10 ounces. If it were a normal order, they would charge 15%.

If things go smoothly, won't they receive 1.5 ounces of gold?

How much money is that? For a moment, everyone's minds went blank, and they couldn't even solve a simple math problem.

"What are the external fees for this type of business at your bank?" Sun Zhiwei asked.

"15%," the accountant answered immediately.

Huang Mingyu immediately glared at him and quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Sir, you are a major shareholder of the company, and many of the fees for internal staff are the most favorable."

"President Cheng has already instructed that for this engagement, you only need to pay 5% of the recovered amount as a fee."

"Hmm, that's fine, let's do it this way."

Morgan and his team take a cut of this kind of business; Sun Zhiwei can't expect the horse to run fast without feeding it properly.

Moreover, it would be more expensive to hire someone from outside the bank to handle the matter, so at least you feel more at ease using someone from your own bank.

"How do you plan to handle this debt collection task? What's the fastest way?"

“Chairman, the normal procedure is to first call and urge them three times, then send a lawyer’s letter, and finally initiate litigation.” The speaker was branch lawyer Orphene Smith.

"This period of time is roughly between 3 and 6 months, depending mainly on the efficiency of the judge in the court that is handling the case."

"It will take that long?" Sun Zhiwei frowned when he heard 3-6 months.

“If you want it to be faster, there is a way.” This time it was accountant Rand Morgan who spoke.

"What method? If it's about finding one of the five major families of Black Hand D, then forget it."

"No, sir."

"The quickest way is to get Toby, who owes money, to face reality and repay his debts voluntarily. He can then cooperate with us in receiving the magnificent jewels, which will save a lot of time."

"This way, we won't have to go through the courts or wait for enforcement, and it will speed up the process of taking over the jewelry store."

"Toby hasn't contacted me since the loan was due, which is obviously an attempt to renege on the debt. It's going to be difficult to get him to admit defeat and give in."

(End of this chapter)