Found Money - James Grippando [91]
“He wasn’t just living there. Looks like he was head of the entire Central and South American operations for some company—K&G Enterprises. I never heard of them.”
“Me neither. But if they do a lot of business south of the border, that might explain the Panamanian bank.”
Ryan took the mouse from Norm and scrolled down himself, scanning the next group of entries.
“He sure has a lot to do with farming.”
“When you get to his level, Norm, I think they call it commodities. Look at this.”
The full text of a Fortune magazine article filled the screen. The title read “All in the Family.” It was an exposé on a handful of “family-run businesses” whose sales rivaled companies like Coca-Cola.
“‘Joseph Kozelka,’” Ryan read aloud. “‘CEO and principal shareholder of K&G Enterprises, third-largest privately held corporation in the world. Estimated sales of over thirty billion dollars a year.’”
Norm said, “These are the kind of empires people never hear about because they’re family owned. The stock isn’t publicly traded. No public filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, no shareholders to hold them accountable. Nobody really knows how much they’re worth.”
Ryan scrolled further down the list of matches, then stopped when he saw something related to the Cardiology Center in Denver. He pulled up the full text. It was a description of the center, with bios of its directors—including Joseph Kozelka, president emeritus.
“Excellent,” said Ryan. “This is what I wanted. A full bio.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet ‘graduate of Boulder High School’ is right up there on the top of his résumé.”
“Shut up, Norm.”
The bio slowly appeared on the screen, more than words. There was a photograph. It was the face of a man in his sixties. It was the aging smile of the kid in the yearbook.
“Look at those eyes,” say Ryan. “That chin. Gotta be him.” He scanned the bio for pertinent details. “Place of birth,” he read aloud, “Boulder. Date of birth—same year as my dad. They had to be classmates.”
“Fine. He’s rich and he’s your dad’s age. That doesn’t mean he’s the guy who paid the extortion.”
“It’s more than just that. Kozelka was born and raised in Boulder. He’s my dad’s same age. That means he and my dad were classmates the same year my dad committed rape. We know the extortion has something to do with rape, or the records wouldn’t have been down in the safe deposit box in Panama. Logically, whoever paid the extortion should meet two criteria. One, he probably knew my dad in high school. Two, he definitely has to be financially secure enough to pay five million dollars. I defy you to find someone other than Joseph Kozelka who meets those criteria.”
“Your logic is sound. But only if your criteria are correct.”
“It’s all I have to go on, Norm. Work with me.”
They exchanged glances. Norm said, “Okay, it’s possible. But where do we go from here?”
“We dig in. There’s a ton of material right here on the computer. Something has to give us a clue as to whether he and my dad ever crossed paths.”
“That could take a long time.”
“I’m up for it.”
Norm settled into his chair, thinking. “Maybe we can shortcut it.”
“How?”
“I say we meet with the FBI, like we’re supposed to. You remember what I said about quid pro quo, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, before we take on a corporate shark as big as Kozelka, let’s see who else is fishing. And let’s find out what they’re fishing for.”
Amy woke with fur on her face. It tickled at first, then frightened her. She swung her arm wildly, launching her attacker.
Taylor giggled as a stuffed Winnie the Pooh went flying across the bedroom. Amy sat up in bed, relieved it wasn’t the real-live rat she had imagined.
“Don’t you like bears, Mommy?”
“Yes, I love bears. But I like it better when you kiss me good morning.”
Taylor crawled onto the bed and kissed her on the cheek. “Come on,” said Taylor. “I’m making breakfast for you and Gram before you go to work.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll be right there in ten minutes.” She sent Taylor off, then headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After a quick shower,