This story will best be described by a story of a certain entrepreneur.
After thinking of retiring from his regular 9-to-5 job, Mr. Jiyon, a middle-aged man, decided to start a business. It had been in his mind for many years, but he didn't get the chance to begin until one day he remembered his friend and called him about the idea, "Hey Vince, I'm planning to start a restaurant business. Do you know someone we can talk to about my plan?"
"Yeah, let's talk to Ram. He has the right knowledge and connections to start a restaurant business. I think this is the perfect time since he is looking for a good investment," Vince answered.
Ram, upon meeting Jiyon, immediately saw something deep in his eyes - a desire and passion to build something of great importance. Although Ram did not know what it actually was, after a swift but meaningful conversation, all these three men agreed to invest everything they had and venture into business without any signs of hesitation and called themselves the 3 Brothers.
Failure after failure and brick after brick, after several months of hard work, persistence, and patience, the 3 Brothers Restaurant was established and started operations. The journey of the business started on a rough road. Suppliers were not delivering what was agreed upon, prices were unstable, a spreading disease affected the market, perishables were wasted due to fewer customers coming in, and city-wide lockdowns, and rent and operational expenses were off the roof. Despite the pressure, contracts and agreements with customers and resellers had to be met.
One of the 3 Brothers' valued clients, Mrs. Bayford, a retiree and a veteran businesswoman, one with an elite status and strong Government connections, sent an email,
"Hi 3 Brothers,
I'm writing this to demand that the services we talked about earlier this year will push through since it is intended for an election campaign. I understand what you have emailed me last time and though I appreciate that it is made far advanced from the schedule, canceling this highly capitalized service for the reasons you have experienced such as your suppliers not delivering their products or are already higher prices based on your original terms and agreement is not acceptable for my high-value clients. I myself am bound by contracts to high-ranking officials who are pressuring me, I'm afraid that it may cause lawsuits for both of our companies if this will not push through.
Please, let's work this out.
Thank you,
Mrs. Bayford"
Without second thought, holding on to their value of competence and integrity, the 3 Brothers decided to continue providing services to Mrs. Bayford despite the fact that supplies were bought at significantly higher prices than their original estimations, which caused them to operate at a loss. Nonetheless, the 3 Brothers Restaurant was still thriving because of their sweat, blood, and tears.
A year passed, and another player entered the game of business. Mr. Sato, a foreigner who was known for owning a Crypto-Trading Company, saw an opportunity as a result of 3 Brothers' operations. Mr. Sato gave an instruction to his associates, "I want to establish a restaurant in front of the 3 Brothers Restaurant. Hire locally known chefs and promote the business. Wire the funds to our local bank and use the main correspondent bank to do an anonymous transfer."
"Mr. Sato, doing that might make us visible in the eyes of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. Are we going to do that?" his accountant and lawyer unanimously implied.
"I can do whatever I want with my money! Those funds have stayed in my account for 5 years already. It wouldn't be suspicious! Besides, I will own a restaurant business," Mr. Sato compellingly answered.
After a few months, the 3 Brothers noticed that some employees have been resigning to move to the other restaurant due to higher pay. Also, some of the customers are moving to the competitor's place because of lower prices, other food businesses are no longer operational due to uneven competition. It would really seem that Mr. Sato is focused on having a significant cash flow and the capital spent seemed without consideration of their profits.
Focusing on marketing strategies and hearing words from their business connections, Ram and Vince were the first to know what was happening with other businesses in the city, which they reported to their other partner, Jiyon.
Upon hearing this, and seemingly knowing what it is, Mr. Jiyon, having all the information he needed, called his competitor anonymously, "I know who you are. I know what you want. If you are laundering money which I know you do, stop it. I have a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let go of your fake business now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will stop you."
(The movie referenced in this conversation is "Taken", released in 2008. The quote is spoken by the character Bryan Mills, a former CIA operative, played by actor Liam Neeson.)
Without uttering a word to his unknown caller, with cold sweat and shaking hands, Mr. Sato slowly shutdown his phone. He was never heard or seen in that place ever again.
A month after, the local NEWS announced that a certain Mr. Sato, a logistic services provider to a Cartel in a neighboring country has been caught by authorities for Money laundering and other predicate crimes including financial fraud.
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