Red Shark

“Financial information about business liquidations, sell-offs, that sort of thing. In one case it seems almost as if the person is preparing for the U.S. financial markets to collapse.”

“Where’s your copy of the list?”

She looked at him like a child who feared being punished for an infraction of house rules. “Jake, it will only make things worse.”

“Jesus Christ. Wake up, Fumiko! What could be worse than a nuclear attack on the U.S.?”

31

Shibuya, Tokyo

She came out of the bathroom after flushing the toilet and handed him the list. Where she’d hidden it, he could only guess. He scanned it and saw that she had assembled not just a list of names but also information on the men’s business interests and holdings, as well as their approximate net worth. It was a list that dealt in superlatives: billions of dollars; scores of owned companies. These were seven Japanese tycoons favored with enormous wealth and power, men who likely could influence events at home and abroad by simply picking up a phone and speaking to a president, prime minister, or king anywhere in the world.

“The three names that were sealed are at the top of the list,” Fumiko said over the TV game announcer’s shrill Japanese.

“Iwao Suzuki, Shinjire Atami, Iseda Tokugawa.”

“Three of the wealthiest men in the world,” Fumiko affirmed.

“I’m listening,” Scott said and sat down again.

“Suzuki and Atami head Japan’s largest banks. Suzuki got involved in a series of suspicious transactions of Euro futures through a bank affiliate in Zurich. The Japan central bank, with the help of the central bank of Switzerland, traced the activity to a single wealthy private client of Suzuki. This client, a Saudi, has dealt with North Korea as far back as 1985. Ultimately Suzuki got nailed for illegal transfers of oil and gas equipment, and shipments of crude oil from Saudi Arabia. It was this client, with help from Suzuki, who defrauded several European banks. The Japanese government held off prosecuting Suzuki, who in turn agreed to give his unlimited financial support to the prime minister’s current bid for reelection.”

“No wonder this was buried in the computer files.”

“As for Atami, he had brokered a deal with the South Koreans to expatriate billions of won through South American banks, which, when converted to dollars, would allow the North Korean government to buy raw materials and technology from Pakistan for their reactor complex at Yongbyon.”

“And what did Atami get in return?”

“A guarantee that Kim Jong-il would finance all his future industrialization programs through Atami’s Japan United Bank. When Japan’s Ministry of Finance discovered Atami’s dealings with Kim, they threatened to close him down. Instead he—”

“Let me guess, Atami’s fortune helped the prime minister get reelected.”

Fumiko cleared her throat and said defensively, “Financial corruption is not a disease indigenous just to Japan.”

“What about this other guy, Tokugawa?”

“He frightens me, Jake, he really does. He’s head of Meji Holdings, a conglomerate of trading companies stretching across East Asia. He also has vast holdings in the U.S. and, lately, Russia.

“Meji was founded after World War II by Jinjiro Asuka, a former war criminal. After his release from prison in 1951, he started his company, literally, in a garage, and when Asuka died in 1968, Meji was the largest trading company of its kind in Asia. Asuka’s son, Kaza, took over, ran the company until he died in1980. Kaza’s son took control but died under mysterious circumstances in 1987. There is a granddaughter, but nothing is known about her.”

“What mysterious circumstances?”

“Seppuku. Suicide.”

“How did Tokugawa become involved?”

“His father and Jinjiro Asuka were friends and served in the army during the war.”

“At Unit 731?”

“Yes. Both were indicted as war criminals, but Tokugawa’s father committed suicide before he was brought to trial in 1946. Tokugawa’s mother and siblings perished at Nagasaki. Both incidents apparently had a lasting effect on Tokugawa.”

“How so?”

“From what I read, he hates the United States with a passion.”

“Yet invests heavily in U.S. corporations. Go on.”

“Asuka treated the young Tokugawa as his son, brought him into the business when he was eighteen. Now, Tokugawa has outlived them all.” She hesitated.

“What else?”

“The scary part. The file I saw revealed that Tokugawa is head of the Japan Pacific War Veterans Association.”