Chapter 228: The Asian Gatsby (4)
My goal was to fan the flames of this incident into a massive blaze and use its heat to my advantage.
However.
That’s never a simple task.
Fire, by nature, is unpredictable and fickle.
‘It takes some skill to manage it.’
You have to keep adding logs so the spark doesn’t die out, splash oil when you need more heat, and carefully direct the flame so it doesn’t spread where it shouldn’t.
So I was closely watching the situation.
‘It’s burning pretty well.’
At the moment, the heat wasn’t bad.
The world was abuzz with articles like these:
<Asian Gatsby’s Luxury Yacht Seized... Even a Gold-Plated Bathtub?>
<Lau’s Jewelry and Designer Collection Valued at $400 Million... Even Ordered a $30 Million Pink Diamond Necklace for the Prime Minister’s Wife...>The Department of Justice had launched a massive asset seizure against Lau, and every detail of his luxurious lifestyle was now being exposed.
In my previous life, this was buried as just another “foreign embezzlement case,” but this time was different.
It was because the character of the “Asian Gatsby” and his “Hollywood connections” had already caught the public’s attention.
<Dacaprio Returns Basquiat and Picasso Gifts from Asian Gatsby... Each Worth Over $3 Million...>
<Supermodel Miranda Kerr Returns $8 Million Diamond Necklace>
<Swizz Beatz Also Received Custom Lamborghini...>Like most financial scandals, sitting around calculating embezzled amounts is usually boring.
But in contrast, going through the list of gifts given to Hollywood stars—now that was undeniably entertaining.
—Of course it’s Hollywood... The most expensive gift I’ve ever gotten was a Starbucks gift card, and they’re out here getting millions in presents...
—And they just went, ‘Wow, rich friend!’ and left it at that? That’s clearly a bribe, isn’t it?
—If there wasn’t anything expected in return, that would’ve been even more suspicious...
As expected, the public reaction was fiery.
However.
Watching all this unfold, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘This is still too weak...’
There are levels to sparks, after all.
A fire fueled by curiosity or amusement dies out quickly.
The only kind of flame with real longevity and ferocity is one thing:
‘Anger.’
But this fire lacked that core fuel.
Sure, there was some anger.
Like:
—Weren’t there a bunch of voluntary returns? And the rest are keeping their mouths shut?
—Feels like the ones not returning anything have something to hide.
—Even if you didn’t know it was shady when you received it, do you still have to give it back?
—If you accepted it knowing where it came from, you’re complicit.
There was something of a witch hunt going on, targeting stars who had taken photos with Lau but weren’t voluntarily stepping forward.
But the focus was a bit off.
There was hardly any anger aimed at the real culprit—Lau himself.
‘Is this the limit?’
After all, John Lau was a foreigner.
And America, as a rule, doesn’t really care about other countries’ problems.
No matter how much this scammer had devoured the hard-earned tax dollars of Malaysian citizens, if no Americans were affected, it remained a distant, irrelevant tale.
Once in a while, articles would surface digging into Lau’s roots thanks to the notoriety of the “Gatsby” name, but the response was lukewarm.
And no wonder—most articles went like this:
<Since his college days, he led a flashy lifestyle and deliberately built connections with Middle Eastern elites, including befriending the seventh son of the Saudi King. The man in question was technically the head of PetroArab, though the company had almost no real business activity... (abridged)... Lau also had ties with the Malaysian Prime Minister’s stepson and used those connections to lead joint projects between MDB and PA...>The content was detailed, but that detail worked against it.
As soon as phrases like “shell companies” and “accounting fraud” showed up, the public—who had been thrilled by glamorous Hollywood scandals—started to lose interest.
‘Guess it’s time to throw in a new log.’
In the end, I decided to step in personally.
When it comes to handling fire, you need an expert’s touch.
<John Lau... Same Tactics as Theranos?>Right here, I decided to use Theranos.
If you looked closely, the two cases had unfolded in completely different ways—but for the purpose of kindling, it didn’t matter as long as the logs caught fire.
First, I focused on the similarities between the two cases.
What’s important in this scam isn’t the financial techniques.
It’s the fundamental method they used to commit fraud.
<Holmes and Lau had one clear thing in common. They both infiltrated “elite networks” first and used them as springboards to launch even bigger scams. Holmes started by courting big names like Henry Kissinger, and thanks to those glittering connections, she was able to attract massive investments without any technical validation. Lau was no different.>Lau was given multiple “warning signs,” but every time, he overcame them using his “connections.”
In fact, when he tried to get a loan from a bank under the MDB name, MDB’s credit alone wasn’t enough.
So Lau brought in his contacts at the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.
And the Abu Dhabi fund is massive—globally recognized.
With their “guarantee,” MDB secured a $2.5 billion loan without any due diligence.
And it didn’t end there.
At the time, he was already under suspicion for money laundering, but once again, he used his “network” to escape trouble.
The banks had already sensed something off about Lau’s suspicious money flows.
Their internal ethics departments even raised red flags.
But...
An executive from the sovereign wealth fund said, “I know this man well—he’s clean.”
And that was that.
Of course, these intricate details wouldn’t hold the average person’s attention.
So I prepared a little prop.
<Lau had registered a shell company under his father’s name. As a result, a staggering amount of money flowed back and forth between father and son. And when the bank asked for clarification on these suspicious transactions, Lau lost his temper and sent the following email:>What I revealed was a copy of Lau’s “rage email” to the bank’s ethics department.
[This is a ‘gift’ I gave to my father. It is a sign of respect for elders and a core value in Confucian culture.
Every time we create wealth, we give a portion to our parents according to cultural custom, and they in turn show generosity to their children.
Breaking this tradition is an absolute taboo and invites immense misfortune. This is an extremely sensitive issue culturally, and you’re trying to do business in Asia without even understanding that?]
It was, by anyone’s standards, an absurd excuse.
And yet.
What was the conclusion reached by the bank executives who received this email?
<Transfers within families cannot always be explained logically.>That was it.
This was still in the realm of the ridiculous.
‘Now it’s time to add a spoonful of rage.’
The rules of the financial system don’t apply equally to everyone.
They exist for the 99%, while the top 1% can smooth things over with flimsy excuses like this.
That’s when I borrowed a slogan from the Occupy Wall Street protests.
The protests may have died down, but plenty of people were still living with the scars of the financial crisis.
The anger of those who lost their homes due to greedy banks doesn’t fade so easily.
With just a bit more fuel, that sleeping rage could be reignited.
<Isn’t it strange? When everyday people try to borrow $10,000 from a bank, they have to submit dozens of documents. Even then, approval isn’t guaranteed. But when it comes to loans in the hundreds of millions, a single email does the trick? Incredible.>I threw that little spark and waited.
‘Let’s see how people respond...’
And the response surpassed expectations.
Not only victims of the financial crisis, but even those struggling with loan screenings erupted in anger.
—Last year, I urgently needed $5,000 for my parents’ hospital bills. Proof of income, employment contract, tax filings, credit score checks... I submitted it all and still got rejected. But this guy gets $1 billion approved with one email about ‘Confucian culture’?
—I work two jobs and still got denied for a mortgage. The bank said my income was too unstable… should I have written “I have rich friends” instead?
—I used to work at a bank. VIP clients don’t even go through credit checks—loans just get approved. Since the financial crisis, layers of new regulations have made borrowing even harder. Especially with all these new “safety nets,” it’s become nearly impossible for small business owners, freelancers, and low-income citizens to get approved. And yet, there’s an express lane just for the wealthy?
That was like pouring gasoline on the fire.
And so, slowly.
But surely.
The sleeping fury began to awaken again.
Before long, social media was ablaze with hashtags like #BankingForThe1Percent, #BillionDollarEmail, and #LoanEquality.
This wasn’t just a scam anymore—it was now a reckoning with the privileged structure of the entire financial industry.
People’s words were growing sharper.
—Weren’t we supposed to be “reforming” after the financial crisis?
—The rich get “email loans,” the rest of us get “impossible loans.”
—Is this what they meant by “a more transparent system”? Oh, it’s transparent all right—“No loans for regular people.”
—Wall Street waited for Occupy to quiet down, then showed its true colors.
—How long are we supposed to stay fooled?
—It’s time to tear this system down. #OccupyWallStreetReturns
Public fury was turning sharply toward Wall Street.
Online spaces were filled with scathing criticism of the financial elite, and some were even calling for a revival of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In the midst of it all, the harshest criticism was aimed at Goldman.
Naturally.
They were the ones who helped Lau issue his shady bonds and essentially launched the whole fraud scheme.
However.
In my past life, Goldman distanced itself from the case, claiming no involvement.
Only when the situation escalated did they blame it on a few rogue employees.
But this time was different.
They admitted responsibility.
<This incident occurred in 2012, during a transitional period when new regulations were just being implemented. In a system that wasn’t yet fully established, a few employees acted independently.>
<After learning of the incident through the Delphi Institute, Goldman recognized the severity of the situation and voluntarily cooperated with the Department of Justice, playing a critical role in Lau’s arrest.>
<We are preparing legal action against two employees who aided Lau’s fraudulent activities, and the executives who turned a blind eye at the time have all accepted responsibility and stepped down.>They acknowledged their past mistakes and shifted blame onto the departed executives.
And the “newly appointed leadership” promised a fresh start.
Naturally, that “new leader” was none other than Pierce.
<Although Goldman did assist with the 2012 bond issuance, we later became suspicious of Lau’s behavior and demanded further due diligence. Despite the risk of losing a valuable client to a competitor, we implemented strict risk management procedures, and as a result, Lau ceased to be our client.>Pierce emphasized that Goldman had not conducted business with Lau recently and subtly pointed out that a competitor had taken Lau instead.
That rival was soon identified.
It was the bank that had most recently extended credit to MDB.
The one that approved a massive loan based solely on the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund’s guarantee—without any due diligence.
Once that report broke, the bank’s stock plummeted.
In the end, Goldman managed to redirect the public’s anger while simultaneously sinking a competitor—killing two birds with one stone.
“How’s that?”
“Certainly, the results are good.”
Pierce responded nonchalantly to my question.
“I hear you’re being considered as the next CEO after this.”
In the wake of this incident, Pierce had become the face of a “new and clean” Goldman.
If the current CEO stepped down, the next seat would be his.
Which meant he’d become a very useful connection for me.
But.
To become one of my connections, there are certain terms.
I gave Pierce a subtle warning.
“In the future, you’d better wait for ‘favors’ instead of trying to settle ‘debts.’ As I said before—if greed contaminates a favor, disaster follows.”
Had he rejected my “favor,” it would’ve been Goldman feeling the sting of a stock crash right now.
And if I had gone so far as to short the stock, things could’ve gotten very messy.
When I reminded him of that, Pierce gave a reluctant nod.
“I’ll wait, then.”
I still owed him one debt.
And he had just agreed that I would decide when it gets repaid.
But then, as he nodded, Pierce’s expression shifted to one of concern.
“By the way... are you going to be okay?”
He told them, “In Asia, it’s customary for a successful son to donate wealth to his parents, and in return, the parents express their gratitude.”
And somehow—
That explanation worked too.
In an ironic twist, Wall Street’s sophisticated anti-money-laundering systems were defeated by one young man’s “respect for his parents.”
The whole world was stunned by this unbelievable reality.
But this was just the beginning of the story.