Legendary FBI Detective-Chapter 286: The Bank’s Losses and the Distribution of 8 Million US Dollars
Pushing open the door, Potante-Byrne saw the new desks and chairs in the office area, as well as the computers on the desks, and smiled lightly.
He had already learned that last night, the leader of the Special Investigation Team No. 4, Morton York, had come here with his agents to poach people, but several of his subordinates were overturned by Luo An alone.
In Potante-Byrne's view, it was quite normal for Luo An to kill four robbers by himself and easily defeat those ordinary agents of Special Investigation Team No. 4, and he'd even held back.
The fact that Luo An had used the driver to exchange for all these things, made Potante-Byrne respect him even more and was more satisfied.
This meant that Luo An was not only skilled physically but also had brains and understood office politics, or even higher-level politics.
After all, one of the essences of federal politics is the exchange of interests.
"Good day, Chief."
Seeing that it was Potante-Byrne, Luo An and the two others immediately stood up.
"No need for that, sit down, I'm here to see Luo An."
Potante-Byrne waved his hand, signaling for Mona and Reesi to sit down as before, and Luo An, knowing the purpose of his visit, nodded and led him into the adjacent office of the team leader.
The office was immaculately clean at the moment, without anything but air, so Luo An took two chairs from the outside office.
Luo An then poured a cup of coffee for Potante-Byrne and chuckled:
"After all, I'm new to Los Angeles; the office isn't set up completely yet."
Potante-Byrne took the coffee and slightly raised an eyebrow:
"Is that so? Then where did those desks, chairs, and computers outside come from?"
Luo An cheerfully replied:
"A kind, good-hearted person gave them."
Potante-Byrne laughed without comment, knowing that Team Leader Morton York was not any sort of good guy.
Taking a sip of the coffee, Potante-Byrne stopped beating around the bush about the matter and turned the conversation to the real issue at hand:
"The losses at the Federal Bank have been tallied; the apparent loss is 1 billion US dollars."
Even though it was said to be 1 billion US dollars, Potante-Byrne had inquired through various contacts and found that the known movie company foundations' funding projects hadn't incurred any losses, so it was impossible to determine if this 1 billion US dollar calculation was real or fake.
Luo An's eyes flickered slightly, as he caught the key phrase from Potante-Byrne:
"On the surface?"
Potante-Byrne nodded, then gave Luo An an indescribable look.
After the previous operation ended, and before the hackers' bodies were even taken out of the room by the trace examination agents, a group of bank executives, along with several technicians holding computers, rushed in.
After turning on the computers and connecting to the server, a complex system operation was performed; one technician whispered something in the ear of one of the bank executives, causing that executive's forehead to instantly break out in cold sweat, and the elderly Caucasian took several deep breaths in succession.
Seeing the other party's demeanor, Potante-Byrne simply didn't believe that their losses were only 1 billion US dollars.
But those bank executives refused to let the FBI agents intervene with the server, so the exact amount lost was also unknown to him.
Potante-Byrne didn't bother to find out; the bank robbery had been resolved, and the FBI had done what they needed to do. The dirty mess inside the bank was of no interest to him - the IRS should be the interested party.
Luo An wasn't interested either, but he thought of another matter:
"Chief, has the bank said anything about the odds of recovering that money?"
"I don't know."
Potante-Byrne was not familiar with these matters. However, an agent from the trace examination division who specialized in computers later explained to him that if the hacker's computer and the USB drive were still there,
"They might be able to reverse-engineer the hacker's custom-made computer virus for breaching the bank's server firewalls to trace the money transfer set up by the other party."
"Now, although the banks can find the accounts to which the funds were transferred, there are bound to be a great number of them."
"These funds absolutely do not only transfer once; each amount being transferred hundreds or even thousands of times is considered normal, so it is impossible to clearly track the final destination of the funds."
"The only computer and USB drive that had hope of providing clues were burned into fragments."
"The agent from the Trace Examination Department stated that the chips had been burnt to carbon and were completely beyond any technical recovery."
Luo An swallowed his coffee, summarizing:
"The hacker is dead, the bank robber ringleader Jack is dead, the computer and USB are both destroyed, and it's highly likely that the bank will not recover the stolen funds."
"That's correct."
Potante Byrne patted Luo An on the shoulder, indicating that the whereabouts of the money were none of the FBI's concern, and the performance of the bank's senior management suggested the money they lost was probably not legitimate. If an investigation was needed, then it would be the IRS's turn to take the stage.
Draining his coffee with one gulp, Potante Byrne looked at Luo An and said seriously:
"Put the follow-up of this case out of your mind! Luo An, your performance today was very good, far exceeding my expectations! Well done!"
"All thanks to the superior's competent command."
Luo An replied with a smile.
The two exchanged a knowing look and a smile, chatted briefly, and Luo An asked:
"Chief, when will the reward that the bank promised us come through?"
"It may take some time."
8 million US Dollars is not a small sum; expecting the parsimonious bankers, who regard their funds as tightly as mythological creatures, to fork over this money quickly is impossible.
However, defaulting on payment is even more unlikely. 8 million US Dollars were promised upfront; LAPD and FBI are not exactly organizations known for mild manners or kindness.
As for the allocation of the money, the FBI will definitely take the lion's share, meaning LAPD is likely to only get 1.3 million US Dollars, the SWAT team 800,000 US Dollars, leaving 5.9 million US Dollars solely for the FBI.
Out of this 5.9 million US Dollars, a portion will be divided among several other departments that took part in this case; Potante Byrne, the team supervisor, the director of the Los Angeles Branch of the FBI, the deputy director, the special agent in charge, and the FBI's financial facilities will all get a cut. Only approximately 3 million US Dollars will eventually belong to the Special Investigation Team to which Luo An belongs.
On the surface, the Special Investigation Team appears to only receive 3 million US Dollars out of the 8 million reward, but in reality, the director, deputy director, special agents in charge, among others, have all received a share, indicating that Luo An has entered the high ranks' field of vision.
With the higher-ups satisfied, subsequent work and life will undoubtedly become much smoother.
After receiving this money, the Financial Facilities Department, as usual, will allocate a portion to improve the office conditions of each department. Luo An's Special Investigation Team falls within this scope and will surely receive some minor perks, thus returning a part of the funds.
Departments in the building that were not well-acquainted with Luo An would definitely be much warmer to him afterward, seeing as they received funding thanks to Luo An, which means his future case work will certainly be much easier.
"By the way, your Special Investigation Team is still short of some members, right?"
Potante Byrne, almost ready to leave the Special Investigation Team, suddenly remembered something and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Luo An:
"This is a document signed by the director."
Luo An took the document, which stated that the Special Investigation Team could now select its own team members from any department, any team within the FBI Los Angeles Branch.
"Wow, thank you, Chief."
Such authority made the corners of Luo An's mouth rise; money does not come for no reason, but here was an opened door of convenience.
"No need to thank me."
Potante Byrne waved a hand, indicating that it was what Luo An deserved. After musing for a few seconds, he asked:
"By the way, Luo An, are you interested in going overseas?"
Luo An: ?
