America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 332 The Error in the Script

At the dinner table, the two mostly talked about their college days.

To be honest, our interactions during university were so insignificant that even describing them as "skimming the surface" would be an exaggeration.

At most, they nodded to each other a few times at various parties held on campus, but they never had a serious conversation that lasted more than three sentences.

But Christie had a knack for it. With a flick of her eye, she cleverly found common ground by talking to a few friends they both knew.

She spoke vividly and in such detail that it seemed as if it had happened just yesterday. Every time she mentioned a friend, she would glance at Ernst at just the right moment, guiding him to recall the related anecdotes.

"Do you remember? Once, Quinn was performing magic at the freshman orientation, and he accidentally let the prop pigeons escape. Everyone in the auditorium helped catch them, and some people even got pigeon droppings on them." Christy said, unable to help but laugh out loud. Her smile was bright and infectious.

How could I forget? Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've seen this guy since graduation.

Compared to Ernst, this guy is a true rich kid. His family's supermarkets have such influence in the Midwest that even Walmart and Costco have to avoid them.

"I still remember at the graduation party, this guy got completely drunk and even threw up on my shoe."

The reason, of course, is that he left the glamorous world of Los Angeles and returned to his so-called countryside to inherit the family business.

"I remember now, it was you guys who carried him back to the hotel." Under Christine's skillful guidance, Ernst gradually opened up.

He followed up on Claire's topic, filling in the forgotten details. The more they talked, the more engrossed they became. Before they knew it, they felt as if Claire and they had known each other for over a decade, like life-and-death friends. All those scattered interactions in the past seemed to have become a testament to their deep friendship.

Even Ernst was momentarily dazed, unsure how he ended up in Clementine's car, heading towards her mansion in the suburbs of Los Angeles, to tell her about those investment plans that weren't suitable to be discussed here.

Throughout the journey, Christy continued to chatter away, her tone relaxed and natural, as if bringing a friend home was the most ordinary thing in the world.

Ernst had a barely perceptible smile on his lips. In his view, it didn't matter who took the initiative; everything was under his control, and it was enough that things were developing in the direction he wanted to see.

The car drove into a quiet villa area and finally stopped in front of an impressive villa.

Upon entering the villa, the luxurious decor didn't particularly catch his attention. What truly surprised him was the complete Turkish bath that had been built in the basement of the Clementine's house.

The bathroom walls and floors are all paved with top-grade marble. The marble's natural and smooth texture, illuminated by warm yellow lighting, exudes a noble and elegant atmosphere.

As soon as I stepped into the bathroom, a wave of heat hit me, and the temperature was much higher than outside, which instantly made me feel relaxed.

Just like the male owner of the house, he took off his clothes and soaked in the warm bath. He lay on the edge of the bath with his limbs outstretched, and the warm water enveloped his body, as if the fatigue was instantly sucked away.

However, this enjoyment has little to do with the so-called Turkish bathing culture; it is essentially the comfort brought by taking a long bath.

In his view, Turkish baths and bathhouses in Northeast China are essentially the same in their core processes, except for some fancy special services.

First, you wash your body thoroughly. There are bathing pools and saunas available. If you get tired of soaking, you can rest in the rest area, where fruits and drinks are provided.

The only difference is that Turkish baths include bubble baths and aromatherapy massages.

In Ernst's opinion, it's better to pay for these extra services and have them provided by female technicians.

He always felt uncomfortable if a strange man touched him all over; that strange feeling was unacceptable to him. Women had an advantage in this kind of activity.

From this perspective, Türkiye's bathing culture is lagging behind the times.

Just like now, Clementine is playing to her feminine strengths, her body covered in a thick layer of foam, making her even more alluring.

The foam was gently applied to Ernst's body. With each swipe of the foam, Ernst felt his blood surge and all his muscles relax. The tingling sensation made him let out a comfortable sigh.

It is only polite to reciprocate, so Ernst, seeing how enthusiastic Clementi was, also took out something and handed it to her as a gesture of goodwill.

Christy's bedroom was silent.

The main color scheme of the entire bedroom is gold, with gold wallpaper on the walls, gold decorations inlaid on the edges of the furniture, and even the curtains are gold-patterned.

As the sun rose high in the sky, golden sunlight streamed into the bedroom through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating the room. A fair and delicate arm emerged from the soft, fluffy white silk quilt, gently rubbing its sleepy eyes.

Christy slowly opened her eyes, feeling an intense dryness in her throat, along with a slight itching sensation.

She instinctively reached out to grab the water glass that was placed beside the bed.

But just as she moved her body slightly, a sudden, intense tearing sensation came from her lower body. The pain made her furrow her brow, gasp, and even unconsciously click her tongue.

She turned to look at Ernst beside her. He was still fast asleep, his thick eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyelids. He looked like he was sleeping very peacefully.

Looking at Ernst's profile, Christy secretly regretted her actions: If I had known it would be like this, I should have gotten used to it first. He's just too damn powerful; my body is about to fall apart.

Despite the pain, Christy slowly sat up, picked up the water glass beside the bed, and sipped the water slowly.

The cool water slid down my throat, relieving the dry, itchy feeling quite a bit.

When she finished drinking the water and turned to look at Ernst again, she found that he had opened his eyes and was quietly looking at her.

"Good morning, darling." Christy immediately put on a gentle and charming expression, her voice became soft, and she even winked at Ernst on purpose.

But the affectionate address and affected manner did not move Ernst; instead, it instantly heightened his vigilance.

He had made up his mind that no matter how eloquently this woman spoke, he would resolutely play the victim and say that he had no money and would not invest a single penny in her father's company.

Ernst knew all too well that people like himself, with their affluent backgrounds and plenty of spare cash, were exactly the kind of high-quality clients that people like Clementine liked best.

The principle of a Ponzi scheme is actually very simple: the money invested by new investors is used to pay so-called returns to older investors, maintaining a false appearance of profitability by robbing Peter to pay Paul.

As long as new investors keep coming in, and the amount of new funds flowing in exceeds the amount of funds withdrawn by old investors, this scam can continue indefinitely, appearing like a perpetual motion machine.

Although the principle sounds simple, it is not an easy thing to actually put such a large-scale scam into operation.

The reason why Madoff's asset management company became the largest Ponzi scheme in American history can be boiled down to the four words: increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.

Open source means ensuring a continuous flow of funds from new investors into the company, but there's a trick to it: it's not about getting as much as possible, but about getting more and more.

If the goal is simply to attract a large number of investors and gather all the money from the wealthy to manage by Madoff, it won't be long before the company faces the problem of not being able to find new investors, and the scam will eventually collapse.

Therefore, Madoff's strategy was to increase investment, which means that individual wealthy individuals should invest more, with the main focus being on high per capita investment.

To achieve high average investment per user, and for a user to continuously add funds, it is necessary to screen for investors who are wealthier and more generous.

He is undoubtedly one of the best candidates in America to meet this standard.

The woman in front of me, Catherine, has been playing the role of a salesperson in Madoff's scam all along.

Madoff's company used a referral system and advertised a fixed annual return of 10% to 15%, which was extremely attractive in the financial market, so people were scrambling to invest.

However, it is precisely because of this strict membership referral system that many people, even with money in hand, cannot find a way to enter this investment circle.

And it was at this moment that Clementine's role became apparent.

She graduated from USC, a well-known private university in the United States, where most students come from wealthy and powerful families.

These wealthy individuals, upon learning through their children that Kredie was Madoff's youngest daughter, naturally used her as a stepping stone into Madoff's investment circle.

While Christy appeared outwardly reserved, she was actually secretly screening clients.

She only selects players who invest large sums of money, and not just anyone; she chooses a small group of them. As long as their investments are enough to maintain Madoff's cash flow and ensure the scam's smooth operation, that's sufficient.

This attitude of refusing money offered to him, coupled with Madoff's reputation in the financial industry, actually made more people flock to his asset management company, feeling that becoming his investor was a symbol of status and power.

All morning, Clementine was like a patient cheetah waiting for its prey to take the bait. While having breakfast and chatting with Ernst, she kept boasting about Ernst's strength, and every word she said greatly satisfied the man's most vulnerable vanity.

Kretty's efforts were clearly in vain, because in Ernst's view, his strength did not need to be boasted about by others, but was proven in actual combat.

"By the way, Ernst, are any of your companies currently short of funds?"

Ernst sneered inwardly, "As expected, it's finally happening."

"My...money...huh?"

Ernst was stunned after uttering just two words.

Looking at Christy with a questioning gaze, she thought to herself: Are you sure this is your line? Did you get the wrong script? Since when did Ponzi schemes have the option to offer to invest in others?

"Are you going to vote?"

Seeing Ernst frown, Christy assumed he looked down on her abilities and felt she couldn't afford to invest in his business.

She didn't show any annoyance on her face because she knew very well that it was indeed true.

Every company under Ernst has a very promising future, and any one of them could be valued at several billion dollars.

The funds she had were a drop in the ocean compared to the financing needs of these companies; they were simply not enough.

"Of course it's not me, it's my father's company. My father is very interested in your company and wants to see if there's a possibility of joint investment."

Do you mean memorizing?

This is the possibility Ernst thought of.

Once an investment is made in Ernst's company, investors in the market will have an even greater desire to invest in Madoff Asset Management, which is equivalent to him endorsing the company.

Ernst's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile. It wasn't impossible; it all depended on who was outmaneuvering whom.

"There is a company that might be seeking funding, but I don't know if your father would be interested."

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