American variety show: The Godfather, the Peace Ambassador, what the heck?

Chapter 78 The Gas Station Farce
The next 10 days were uneventful.

Luca did only one thing: he partnered with Abram to launch the gasoline tax scam.

—Maligio has obtained the license and a series of procedures, reportedly at the cost of a lot of money and favors. All of these things are legal and legitimate, and outsiders cannot find any problems with them.

Jordan started a gasoline wholesale company.

—Abram's men do the dirty work, take the blame, wear layers of paper company skins, and are always ready to go back to Siberia for popsicles.

The gasoline tax scam has been successfully launched.

The core of the scheme is that there are loopholes in the current federal tax process. Previously, gas stations paid their taxes independently, which was too troublesome. After a reform, the taxes were collected and paid by a higher-level wholesale company.

There are two parts to the tax: one is the value-added tax on wholesale and retail; the other is the gasoline tax paid by consumers when they refuel.

For example, a wholesaler buys a gallon of gasoline for 50 cents and then sells it to a gas station at a price lower than the average market price. The wholesaler's gross profit includes taxes, and after deducting the taxes, the profit is very small. If the wholesaler doesn't pay taxes and keeps the profits for themselves, the profit is quite large!
When the IRS takes months, or even longer, to collect taxes, the Russians will close the company early, declare bankruptcy, and shut down the supply chain.

This scam involves layers upon layers of paper companies, each passing through a different intermediary to stamp and conceal taxes. It's extremely difficult to pinpoint which company stamped the document—because all the companies are located overseas, none of them pay taxes, and all the money vanishes without a trace, making it impossible to track down.

If the Russians are guilty, go find them in Siberia. What does it have to do with the peace ambassador?

The mastermind behind the scam in the original storyline, Mike Francis, was arrested primarily because he was betrayed; a secondary reason was that the federal government had planted a large number of undercover agents who collected evidence of his crimes.

Having learned from past mistakes, Luca, as an assassin, will be more vigilant and avoid such a thing from happening. He will hide even deeper, leaving behind layer upon layer of gloves.

Moreover, Luca is quite experienced in dealing with traitors.

The federal government can't see a single living undercover agent or informant standing in court, pointing their finger at the peace ambassador and accusing him of guilt!
"Brian!"

Outside a gas station, Nancy stood next to a self-service gas station and said with a surprised look, "Look, the gas here is so cheap! It's only $1.2 a gallon, which is 5 cents cheaper than other places."

Brian glanced at the price and his mouth dropped open. "It's gone down in price? Last time I was here, it was $1.26. Now it's about the same price as in Los Angeles!"

The two were greatly surprised, as New York's oil prices were among the highest in the country, rising year after year, and it was rare to see a drop in oil prices.

Nancy approached a gas station employee nearby and asked about the prices. "If your prices stay this cheap, I'll take a detour to fill up here from now on."

"Beautiful lady, trust me, it will only get cheaper. We welcome you to come back often; our gas station always has the cheapest prices."

"Really? I didn't see any other gas stations lowering their prices."

“People will only buy things that are cheaper. If we lower our prices, they will have to lower their prices as well if they want to keep customers.”

The employee shrugged. "Just like you, what customer wants to waste money on more expensive gasoline?"

Brian stepped forward and said, "Dude, you said it yourself, your gas station has the cheapest gas prices. I'll be filling up here from now on."

"I was just relaying what my boss said."

After dealing with two more customers, the employee sighed wearily.

In the past few days, since the gas station's oil prices were lowered, business here has improved significantly, and he has become even busier.

Fortunately, the overtime pay was a little higher.

The owner said that the chain's other gas stations will also lower their prices later.

By lowering prices by just a few cents, they can attract a large number of customers.

Suddenly, the boss came out and yelled, "Walker! I'm giving you a task: find out the prices at other gas stations around here and report back to me immediately! Understand? I absolutely will not allow anyone to offer a lower price than me!"

"Good boss!"

After watching his employees leave, the boss returned to his office, found the reports, and calculated how much money he had made during that period.

A few days ago, the gas station changed wholesalers and sold to them at a price 10 cents lower than the market price.

A difference of a full 10 cents!
Gas stations can make an extra 5 cents in profit by simply lowering their prices by 5 cents!
In this way, you can easily earn tens of thousands of dollars more per week.

"Has that company gone mad? How can they make a profit by lowering prices like that?"

After paying taxes, how much money will these people make? They'll probably all lose money, since the current price is the generally accepted market price, and any sudden adjustment will inevitably harm some people's interests.

Who the hell would take this loss?

But no matter what, he had never seen a gasoline wholesale company so generous; it was practically giving away money and welfare to others!
America needs such a great philanthropist!

After leaving the gas station, Brian drove his repaired green Mitsubishi to Manhattan to pick up Matilda from school, and then the two of them went to the SSR Club together.

As soon as I entered the gate, I saw Jimmy carrying a black bag and walking towards the elevator.

Brian's gaze was serious.

This was Old Pigeon's top henchman, who often did bad things with Old Pigeon behind his back. Brian was helpless because Old Pigeon never took him along, and he couldn't find any evidence to gather.

Brian also tried to install listening devices in the club, but the casino staff would inspect the club every day with professional equipment, leaving no corner unchecked, just to prevent anyone from doing such things.

As a not-so-professional spies, Little Yellow Hair's best skills are racing cars, joining gangs, and picking up girls, but when it comes to espionage, he suddenly finds himself at a loss for where to begin.

Moreover, the better Old Pigeon treated him, the more guilty Brian felt. Old Pigeon trusted him so much that he even let him pick Matilda up from school.

"Yellow Hair."

Matilda's voice brought Brian back to his senses. He rolled his eyes and said speechlessly, "Don't call me blondie. I have a name. If you really can't, you can call me bro."

“Luca is my brother! He calls you Yellow Hair in private.”

"."

"Don't just stand there, come on, let's go to the bar and help me with my homework. After that, I want to watch Transformers."

"."

Brian felt like his life was a real ordeal.

No way, I have to go for a few laps around Bronx tonight.

Yusuf, that idiot, is still in the hospital; nobody dares to mess with him.

"Old Pigeon, here are 8."

Jimmy put the bag on the table. "Four days! In just four days, we've made so much money. After the Russians divided it up, we still have this much left! It's incredibly profitable!"

"This is nothing," Luca said calmly. "How are the negotiations with the other gas station companies going?"

Jimmy reported on the situation, saying that negotiations were still ongoing and that it would be finalized soon.

Currently, the wholesale company doesn't supply many gas stations. However, once more gas stations cooperate and use their gasoline, profits will skyrocket. Earning millions a week will be achievable very quickly.

Later on, they could even buy or open their own gas stations, and then, once they gained control of the ports, obtain cheap oil from the Russians. This vertically integrated operation, from the refinery to the gas station, would generate staggering profits.

Luca made money, the gas station made money, and consumers got cheaper gasoline!

Family, I've managed to bring down gas prices in New York!
They all made a killing!
A world where no one loses out has been achieved.

The federal government isn't losing out either; a little less tax revenue in exchange for a peaceful and prosperous New York. Luca's expression was a bit strange. He coughed twice and said, "Jimmy, be careful. If the gas stations we partner with lower their prices, it will likely cause conflicts with other gas stations. Deal with any issues promptly."

Jimmy smiled and said, "Okay."

The Mafia and peace ambassadors are very good at solving these kinds of problems.

After Jimmy left, the door opened silently, and Leon's figure emerged from the shadows.

"Pauli and Gaudi met."

"I see."

Luca tapped his fingers on the table, thinking to himself that old man Pauli was still not giving up.

Forced into a corner and unable to find allies, he had no choice but to seek power outside his family.

Meanwhile, Gaudi, who is also a drug dealer, has a direct conflict of interest with White Tiger. In addition, Gaudi also has an elite team of assassins.

The claim that a person can be located and killed in 30 seconds is an exaggerated rumor, but it does demonstrate that Gaudi's power should not be underestimated.

Poly is trying to use someone else to do his dirty work.

The peace ambassador smiled to himself, thinking that the more fiercely they fought, the greater the reward for defending peace would be.

"Leon, keep an eye on things and report back immediately if anything comes up."

A week later, Jimmy brought in 39.

Another week has passed, and Jimmy has brought in 96.

While a group of drug dealers were still fighting for territory and selling drugs on the streets, Luca, sitting in his office, had already become too lazy to count his money.

Just throw it to Jimmy to rinse clean.

Until late September, while Luca was chatting and drinking with John at the club, Jimmy called.

"Pigeon, there's trouble at the gas station! Our driver got beaten up!"

Jimmy quickly recounted what had happened.

Basically, the gas station's price reductions stole business from neighboring gas stations, making the owners of several gas stations very jealous and angry.

Their purchase price is higher, so they can't engage in price wars like others and can only watch helplessly as their business is snatched away.

The conflict gradually accumulated, and the long-standing arguments escalated to the point where they finally couldn't hold back and resorted to violence.

During this transport, the driver arrived at the destination and was immediately surrounded by people after unloading the goods.
"Stop their men! Don't let a single one of them leave!"

Luca calmly replied, "Wait for me to come!"

This was a problem Luca had anticipated—everything in this business was legal except for the tax-free aspect, so there was no overt use of Mafia violence.

Few people even knew that this was a business between the Mafia and Russians. Even the tanker truck drivers thought they were affiliated with a legitimate gasoline wholesale company and were just responsible for transporting the goods.

It's time for the peace ambassador to step in again.

After hanging up the phone, Luca gave John an inquiring look. "I've run into a little trouble. Want to go take a look? It involves our business."

John, remembering his boss's instructions to cooperate with Luca, nodded: "Okay."

The two got into Luca's old car.

On the way there, John hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "I heard Helen say that she went on a business trip to another city to collect materials for your club."

"Oh, yes, that's true."

Luca nodded. "Helen is a dedicated photographer. The club's advertising campaign this time owes a lot to the photos she took. John, you came to the club today to see me because of this, right? I'm sorry, you two just started dating, and she had to go out of town for work."

"She called me; things are going well at work."

John glanced at Luca. "I just want to know, roughly when will she be back?"

Luca chuckled. "Dude, you've really fallen head over heels in love. Don't you even wonder why you had to go out of town to film the club's commercial?"
"It should be soon. Helen arranges her own work. She will come back when she feels it's right. Let's wish her a smooth filming."

"all the best."

John uttered a few dry words, but Luca noticed a hint of expectation in the corner of his eye.

Before long, the two arrived at a gas station in the Bronx.

When the two men in suits got out of the car, the gas station was a mess. Several uniformed staff members had bruises on their faces, and the tanker truck driver from the wholesale company sat on the steps by the roadside, looking disheveled and smoking dejectedly.

Jimmy was asking around the crowd where the attackers had gone, but the results were not promising.

The person had already run away.

Luca asked, "Do you know who did it?"

Before Jimmy could speak, a disheveled gas station employee raised his hand, "I know!"

Then a long list of names was revealed, all of whom were people from nearby gas stations and some small gangs.

Jimmy added, "Yes, it's these people. I know their boss. These gas stations all have long-term, fixed wholesalers. Their relationships have been deeply rooted for many years, and they won't easily cooperate with others."

"I was just looking for a reason to deal with them, and now that they've made the first move, I'll give them an irresistible reason to cooperate."

Luca smiled easily and left with his men.

Watching them leave, the gas station employees looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Was that Pigeon Luca just now? I'm not mistaken, am I? Could that tanker truck driver be one of his men?"

“That’s Pigeon. I saw him once before, from afar!” Walker wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and nodded vigorously. “Those damn bastards, they dared to break Pigeon’s rules, they will pay for it!”

(End of this chapter)