The Cardinal and the Crook

After he compiled his audit work, James decided it was time to share the results with Nick. He explained what he had done and the confusing results.

“Nick, it doesn’t make any sense! The weekly deposits for each restaurant are at least ten thousand dollars higher than they should be. A few times, they were nearly twenty-five thousand higher than the corresponding customer checks.”

Nick listened with what appeared to be a high degree of interest. James noticed that the more he described the situation, the redder Nick’s face became. When James finished explaining everything, Nick got up from his desk and shut his office door. Next, he pulled up a chair and sat right next to James. He hunched over in the chair and then began to rub his forehead with both hands. James could actually see perspiration beading on Nick’s forehead. He looked James directly in the eyes and spoke in a very low and serious voice—almost a whisper. “Listen, Jimmy, you should not have done that without asking me first. I know that you were just trying to be helpful, but there are certain lines you should never cross in this business.”

James listened closely to what Nick was saying. It was almost as if the controller was frightened of something. He also picked up on the fact that Nick had said “this business” and not “the restaurant business.” Several seconds of silence went by, and then Nick put his hand on James’s shoulder and said, “Look, kid, I like you a lot. You’re hardworking and very bright. I don’t want you to get into any trouble! So just forget about this receipt stuff. Forget about it! And don’t you ever tell anyone—and I mean anyone—about what you did or what you found! And don’t ever start a project like this one again without running it by me first! Do you understand me?”

At this point, James felt like his head was spinning.

“Yes . . . yes, I understand. I’m . . . I’m really sorry . . .”

Nick simply stared at James. “Good! Now go back to work. And remember—this never happened!”

That evening, back at his apartment, James kept replaying the conversation with Nick in his head. The more he thought about it, the tighter the knot in his stomach got. He eventually realized what was really happening at the restaurants. My God! This is classic money laundering! The Martonis are filtering the money from their illegal businesses through the restaurants to make the cash appear clean. He remembered his conversation with his brother before starting this job. He could still recall his brother pleading with him. It’s not a legitimate business. It’s just a front. It’s all criminal.

And now John’s warning came back to haunt him.