Betrayed: (A Financial and Conspiracies Thriller – Book 1 in the Legacy Thriller Series)

by William Wield

  ‘I get his point,’ replied Angus. ‘So, in short, you’d like me to get your ten million out of Spain and into my bank here on the Isle of Man − have I got that right?’

  ‘Exactly, can you do that for me? I don’t want this to come back and hit you though. Do you have ways of doing this secretly so no one else knows?’

  ‘There are ways, yes.’ Angus knew that Perry, the Craithe Team’s top hacker, would manage it. ‘My problem, however is that I’m a banker and, even in an off-shore operation like ours, international rules apply especially if there’s even a whiff of money-laundering. So my problem is not whether I can do this − which I can − but whether, as you say, it could come back to bite me later.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Boreyev.

  Angus thought for a moment, no one would ever know about the transfer – with Perry’s expertise even a sum of this size would simply be there one minute and gone the next.’

  ‘Consider it done,’ he said.

  ‘So how will I know when it’s been done?’ asked Boreyev.

  Angus explained the process, took Boreyev’s bank details and told him to consider it done.

  ‘Right and thank you my old friend’.

  ‘See you tomorrow in Crinan,’ said Angus.

  Of course Perry did manage it, he had been moving other people’s money since he was twelve. Equally as important as moving the money was the fact that, thanks to his unique software, it was done without leaving any electronic traces of his visit to the Mijas bank or where the money had gone.

  Chapter 4

  Thursday lunchtime.

  Nikol’skaya Street, Moscow

  For Igor Komarov, life was a constant juggling of many balls in the air at the same time. Not only did his boss, the President, suffer from acute paranoia, he himself was driven by an insatiable lust for power and money. In the project dominating his life at present, these two interests were incompatible and his own interests were about to take precedence.

  His long job title, printed in ostentatious gold on his business cards, indicated that he was the foremost of the President’s ‘fixers’. Both he and his principal aide, Pavel Rostov, had started their working lives alongside the President in the KGB in St Petersburg. But whereas Komarov and Rostov grew closer over the years, working together, the President had greater ambitions and gradually distanced himself from his two colleagues as he climbed faster than them and on to the pinnacle of power. Some speculated that the two left working in the KGB, (and later the FSB), held some secrets about the former threesome’s times in St Petersburg and Moscow. For, diligent and as ruthless as they needed to be in the pursuit of their craft, they lacked the President’s killer instincts; yet both remained close to each other and closer than most others to the President.

  Befitting this close relationship, they had complete access to all of the powerful tools of the Russian Federation’s many espionage networks. The office suite that the two of them and their teams shared was conveniently situated almost exactly halfway between the Kremlin and their old KGB offices in Lubyanka Square − now occupied, of course, by the FSB.

  Whether or not the physical sizes of the two men had anything to do with their comparative status, was a subject of whispered speculation in the office, for whereas Komarov was a giant of a man, nicknamed the Russian Bear by the staff - but never called that to his face – Rostov had more the look of a weasel, small, furtive and ever watchful. And although an unfair assessment, Komarov was credited as being someone you could trust, whereas Rostov was not. For these and perhaps some reasons unknown to the staff, Komarov was the boss and Rostov his number two.

  Rostov, who had specialised in surveillance in his early KGB and later his FSB days, was in charge of great arrays of equipment along with two dedicated members of staff. He was an invaluable support to Komarov’s power base − knowledge of others being the power behind the power in today’s Russian Federation.

  This Thursday, approaching lunchtime, the two of them had been in what could have been described as ‘panic mode’. Both were well used to the President’s sudden bursts of ice-cold temper but, first thing this morning, that fury had caused more than usual concern. Both were acutely aware of the Federation’s current problems. A combination the collapse of the world oil price and the West’s sanctions were ruining the Federation’s economy and it was the job of the President’s minions, these two, to come up with suggestions on how to alleviate his problems. It was also their job to keep the full extent of the truth from the public – another factor calling on Komarov’s juggling skills.

  The drop in the international price of oil by more than half, had already reduced the country’s annual income by the colossal sum of 850 trillion roubles − over two hundred billion dollars − and was still dropping. Clearly there was nothing that Komarov and his team could do about that, but the US and European Union sanctions? Well, that was quite another matter.

  Although Komarov would no doubt fail any formal examination paper on psychology, his instinctive understanding of it was excellent. The President’s current feelings towards the West were dominated by an urge for revenge – revenge against their sanctions, revenge against their meddling in Russia’s internal affairs, their constant harping on about ‘human rights’.

  Komarov also knew that the President’s whole view of foreign affairs was dominated by the burning desire to return the Federation to the days of Russia’s past greatness. This would include surrounding herself once again with ‘buffer’ states or countries to keep her secure from the perennial enemy, the West. Whether or not this view made any sense in today’s world was irrelevant – it was the President’s view and that was that.

  Recently Komarov had been given a solution to this perennial wish of the President’s to get back at the West. The solution was the rumoured existence of a new weapon which could dominate the dark world of cyber warfare. Although the State and its various agencies had very serviceable cyber weaponry and excellent hackers, the rumour was that this new weapon had the ability to cut through the defences of almost any known digital defence system. It even had a name – Athena. All he still needed to do was locate it and then steal it – as much to prevent them from using it against Russia as using as a weapon themselves.

  It had been one of his inner circle’s member’s job to find this Athena. He had kept boasting about it but never managed to find it to steal it. In one of his rages the President must have arranged for Bazarov to me removed for this failure to safeguard Russia by finding Athena. Now that Komarov had taken over the task he was desperate to succeed – he had no intention of following Bazarov into an early grave.

  Once in his hands, the ability to take control of almost any of the West’s vital services, could absolutely transform the President’s options for revenge.

  ‘We simply cannot go on bluffing,’ said Komarov. Pavel Rostov agreed by nodding his head and pursing his lips. ‘So where the hell are we with finding this Athena and dealing with his other big moan, the dissidents?’

  ‘I’ll give you the negative results first,’ replied Rostov. ‘No progress on the quantum computer manufacturers in Canada, nor the ones in Silicon Valley in the US, and no progress on either the Google or the Microsoft research teams - though we keep our tabs on them night and day. Our two people in China sound as though there might be a breakthrough soon, though there’s nothing to report as yet. On the positive side, however, our little investment in the Philippines has gone well. The young hacker did his job and our team is now back in Moscow. The software the young Manila hacker developed for us looks to be ready now – and the practices went well. It will be interesting to see what happens when we use it at the Bank of England’s conference in London tomorrow.’

  ‘And you’re sure that the Bank of England will use the new weapon we’re looking for against our attack?’ asked Komarov. ‘If it really exists, that is,’ he added as an afterthought.

  ‘Our contact in London tells me he’s sure that what they’re
going to unveil at the conference is exactly that, the thing they call Athena,’ replied Rostov. ‘He also says he has it on the highest authority that they’re going to use it – so we’ll see, won’t we. But, just in case they don’t, we’re not risking bringing down a really big bank. The last thing we need is another bloody recession; our London contact will be nominating a smaller target while he’s actually at the conference,’

  ‘Good,’ said Komarov, ‘but I want you personally to monitor the choice of target to ensure no mistakes are made like taking down something that will cause ripples we can’t control.’

  ‘Got it,’ said Rostov, ‘I’ll make doubly certain.’

  ‘Our second main focus at present,’ said Komarov, ‘is the anti-Crimea and Ukraine dissidents. The President’s determined to get back control of these two and we must silence the internal dissent on this policy of his. How are we doing there?’

  ‘Funny you should mention that,’ said Rostov. ‘You know the automatic warning system we have when anyone on the dissident list tries to move money or assets?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Just minutes ago one of them, an old friend of the President’s, tried to move a large sum out of Spain and into the UK’, said Rostov. ‘It came up on our private link with the SVR.’ Komarov was particularly pleased that not only did he have a private link to the Russian Federation’s foreign intelligence, the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, the SVR for short, he also had virtually the exclusive services of one of its most dedicated operatives, Danil Morozov.’

  Komarov glanced at his watch and gave a sigh of relief, Danil Morozov would not be on duty at the moment – on this occasion he needed someone with no link to this office.

  ‘Do we have the SVR’s report on that yet?’ asked Komarov, ‘their 24/7 surveillance of all foreign internet and email traffic is sure to have logged it as well as spotting it.’

  ‘Yes, that’s where the SVR’s better than the UK’s GCHQ, we keep everything but I believe that thanks to their great democracy, they’re not allowed to keep everything without getting permission from their Courts. Can you imagine anything so ridiculous? So, to answer your question, the SVR will be sending it through shortly,’ replied Rostov, ‘though I know the outline of it now, if you’re interested.’

  ‘No, no, I can wait for the fuller report itself.’

  ‘Well, if that’s all for now, I thought I’d get off to lunch,’ said Rostov, ‘you coming too?’

  ‘No, I’ve got a couple of things to deal with, I’ll see you later’ said Komarov.

  As soon as Rostov had left, Komarov picked up the direct line to the SVR. He read off the code of the operative who had sent the most recent report and asked to speak to him. After that it was just routine investigative work and half an hour later he had the information he needed – a substantially enhanced report on what had happened after Boreyev had tried to move his money from the bank in Mijas. It was standard SVR’s practice, putting a bomb-scare down to a bank to close it if a dissident who was trying to move money. This had been automatically triggered when the Craithe team tried to move Boreyev’s money. But what interested Komarov was that a few minutes later Boreyev’s money had vanished. Even more interesting it was gone without trace after the bomb threat.

  An important addition in the new report was further information on Angus Macrae. This was brief but thorough. It covered Macrae’s career with the Towneley Bank, his secondment to the Vassilov Kapital Bank in Moscow and then his setting up of the joint-venture investment Towneley-Vassilov Bank on the Isle of Man. On the personal side, it also noted that he had married the daughter of the oligarch, Mikhail Vassilov. All the other standard checks on both him and the new Isle of Man bank were strongly positive.

  Komarov was delighted with these findings and put a call through to the said Angus Macrae. Although his English was good, he spoke in Russian. ‘Mr Macrae, this is Igor Komarov here; you don’t know me but I’m a friend of your father-in-law Mikhail Vassilov’.

  ‘Yes Mr Komarov,’ replied Angus in English, ‘what can I do for you?’

  ‘I am aware that you will be about to leave for the weekend, so I’ll be brief. I was most impressed with the way you were able to move your friend Mr Boreyev’s money for him from the bank in…’

  ‘Mr Komarov, I’m sorry to cut you off there, but I’m afraid that…’

  ‘My turn to interrupt you Mr Macrae, I’m on your side. I have it in my power to do you a great favour if you will just hear me out…please,’ his tone was suitably conciliatory and, this time, in English.

  ‘Very well, but my time is short,’ Angus could be heard tapping the desk with his pen in irritation.

  ‘Because of his recent visits to both the Crimea and to Eastern Ukraine, your friend Mr Boreyev – and by implication your father-in-law Mikhial Vassilov – have automatically got themselves onto a dissidents list. This you probably know. The President does not like a minority of our citizens openly opposing democratically chosen policies; so they will remain on that list for the foreseeable future. This will effect movements of assets of any kind, and lead to restrictions in travel – very irksome stuff for them as I’m sure you’ll agree – just as your EU sanctions are irksome to me, an innocent bystander in these international games.’

  ‘I’m not sure the West would call them games, Mr Komarov,’ said Angus.

  ‘We’re both men of the world, Mr Macrae,’ replied Komarov, ‘I have it within my power to have your friend Mr Boreyev and also Mikhail taken off the dissidents list in the flick of a finger, setting them free of all restrictions as quickly as computers can be updated. In return, I would be grateful if you could move some of my monies into your bank on the Isle of Men. You could manage that for me, could you not?’

  Angus had but seconds to make a decision. A combination of chess-playing when in Russia and a banker’s need to make rapid assessments, helped him at this moment. ‘How much money are we talking about, Mr Komarov?’ he asked.

  ‘Forty-two million US Dollars,’ replied Komarov ‘and I know you might think it strange that I want to pull monies in from various sources and finish up putting such a huge sum in one place, but our intelligence tells us that the West’s sanctions are about to tighten and so my first priority is to sidestep those sanctions if at all possible.’

  ‘Very well, if that’s what you wish to do. If you will now give me all the details of where your monies are deposited at present, plus passwords and so on I will do that for you. Just one other matter − how will I know if you have taken my two friends off your dissidents list?’

  ‘First I need to speak with the President,’ said Komarov, ‘then I will ring both of them and tell them how they may check for themselves that they’ve been taken off the list. Both of them can then ring and tell you, simple as that.’

  ‘It will take me some time to move your money,’ said Angus, ‘I shall expect calls from Mr Boreyev and my father-in-law no later than one p.m. GMT today. You realise also, don’t you, though your money will be banked here safely by around one p.m. you will not be able to access it until after the Easter bank holiday weekend. But I will send you an email giving you a way you can check the balance online.’

  ‘That’s fine, Mr Macrae. I have no need of the money right now, I just need it to be beyond the reach of the sanctions right away and accessible in the not too distant the future.’

  ‘Good, so if you can now give me all the details I need I’ll get going with my end of the deal right away and I’ll expect their calls to me in due course.’

  It took a few minutes for Komarov to tell Angus the various places where he kept his money, and the bank details involved.

  It was less than forty minutes later that Angus had a call from Boreyev.

  ‘I don’t know what you and Igor Komarov have been up to,’ said Boreyev, ‘but after a few strange telephone calls it would appear that neither Mikhail nor I are any longer persons of interest to the FSB. Mikhail says hello to you but won’t ring as he’s
just seeing Tatiana, Jerry and Anastasia off to Glasgow. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.’

  ‘Likewise,’ said Angus. He then jotted a note on his pad; it read ‘Ring Mikhail and get more info on Igor Komarov.’

  Chapter 5

  Thursday, late morning

  Towneley Vassilov Bank, Isle of Man

  The launch of Athena to the City of London had been planned to take place during the long Bank Holiday weekend while the markets were closed – this would allow for any early difficulties to be ironed out. It would also dampen City traders’ initial concerns over major changes to banks’ security arrangements.

  The launch was being hosted by the Bank of England, and the details of the agenda, and communications had been thoroughly checked by the team on Craithe and by Fisher at the bank. Macrae had also checked everything with Kim. The helicopter taking them up to Glasgow Airport to meet up with Tatiana, the au pair Anastasia and little Jerry was not due till just after lunch so Kim returned to Angus’s office to finish off his briefing of her on Athena matters’. She sat down opposite him and waited till he finished a call to the bank’s general manager and as soon as Angus put down the receiver she took the initiative.

  ‘Before we were interrupted by Mr Boreyev’s second call, you were going to finish telling me a bit more of Athena background matters, In the meantime I was wondering how such a small team, however well-funded between ourselves and the conglomerate no one names, managed to get ahead of everyone else in quantum computing.’

  ‘One reason I believe,’ said Angus, ‘is the unusual mix of people in our team. First there’s Professor Henry Hapsley − probably the world’s leading expert in the new quantum computing technologies. He came to us after my uncle financed some of his research when university funding took a dive after the 2008 crash. Our secretive conglomerate partners wanted only him for their quantum research and so they became our partners us as well.’