Chapter 83
The task force announced a wave of arrests in a wide-ranging corruption and bribery investigation. Detective Jones and his FBI colleagues were front and center at the press conference.
Local law enforcement participated in the raids that brought in government officials and their business contacts. The net included big fish like James Linklieter and Simon Rempert but also small fry like Harvey Doningston. Over 100 arrests were made.
Sam Trenchard was not one of them. He sat transfixed, watching the television broadcast. On hiatus after his incident, he now understood there would be no more jobs from the organization. He was on his own.
The arrests were only the beginning. Now, a lengthy group of court cases began to work their way through the system. Alan Groosjean was one of the cooperating witnesses.
“What is your relationship with James Linklieter?”
“I got in trouble gambling at his Lucky Dog Riverboat Casino.”
“Did he make you an offer regarding your debts?”
“Yes.”
“What was the offer?”
“If I would provide him inside information on city affairs, he would forgive my debt.”
“What kind of information?”
“Contract bidding details, police investigations, and so on. He asked for anything that I had, regardless of its immediate relevance to his business.”
“How long did this go on?”
“About five years.”
“Did anything else happen during this period of time?”
“Yes. My home was broken into and robbed.”
“By Mr. Linklieter’s associates?”
“No. After the robbery, I received a call from a different organization.”
“What were the details of this call?”
“They claimed to have my stolen goods, as well as information that I was providing to Mr. Linklieter. They threatened to release the information to the press unless I agreed to provide copies of the information to them.”
“And who was this person making the threat?”
“Simon Rempert.”
“Did you accept?”
“I had no choice. They could have ruined my career and exposed me to retaliation by Mr. Linklieter’s associates.”
“So you continued this role, providing privileged city information to two different organizations in exchange for payment?”
“Yes.”
It was Ken Brownling’s turn to testify.
“What was your connection to Arthur Vandenburg?”
“I performed legal tasks for him and NobleRefined LLC.”
“Such as?”
“Handling the bankruptcy for the Star Candy club.”
“Did anything unusual happen while you were working for Vandenburg?”
“My home was robbed.”
“Did you ask Arthur for assistance?”
“Yes. The police investigation wasn’t going anywhere, and I thought he could help.”
“Why?”
“I knew Vandenburg had contacts and influence and hoped to get my property back.”
“Did you?”
“No. Later on, I discovered that Arthur was under indictment for the murder of Matt Stevens, a known burglar.”
“Do you have any evidence that Stevens robbed your house?”
“No.”
“Do you know Simon Rempert?”
“Yes. He replaced Vandenburg as my contact with the organization.”
“Did you bring up your suspicions about Arthur Vandenburg being responsible for your home’s robbery?”
“Yes. Simon could not replace my stolen items, but he did promise that the organization would throw business my way that would make up for my losses in a short period of time.”
“And did they?”
“Yes.”
“Did Simon give any more details about this robbery ring?”
“No.”
“What other dealings did you have with Simon?”
“We discussed the Fair Employment investigation into discrimination against minority employees at Brownling and Watkins locations.”
“What did Simon say about it?”
“He promised that the investigation would produce reports to satisfy the voters but that no real damage would be done to the business.”
“In other words, he indicated that he had influence with the state investigators to treat your firm lightly?”
“Yes.”
William Greenfinder gave cooperating testimony as well.
“What was your role at Greenfinder Nail Salons Inc?”
“Chief Executive Officer.”
“For what period of time?”
“About seven years.”
“And what is your current position?”
“Senior Strategic Advisor.”
“When did your CEO role end?”
“When the investors accepted a merger with another group owned by NobleRefined LLC.”
“What did this merger entail?”
“New leadership was brought in. Many of my long-time colleagues were moved to different positions or left the company. Certain locations were closed down while other establishments were enhanced and enlarged by the merger.”
“Did you notice a pattern in these moves?”
“Yes. Minority employees were passed over for promotions and bonuses. The majority of the high-level executive jobs went to the new entrants into the company.”
“Do you have any proof of this?”
“No. But I have personal knowledge of myself and other minority candidates who were not promoted and/or pushed aside. I can provide you with a list of names.”
The defense quickly objected to the last answer, but the cat was out of the bag. There were the Black Lives Matter protests and pressure to consider as well. Politically, the issue of discrimination against people of color would be part of the trials, despite the best efforts of the defense to exclude it. Tasha Fields held a BLM press conference.
“Black Lives Matter is pleased to see these arrests. We are shocked, however, at the scope and depth of the corruption it appears to have exposed. Not to mention discrimination against our people. We hope the investigation and trial will be thorough and comprehensive to rectify these glaring societal issues.”
After the initial round of testimony, the task force met for an update.
“Seems like we’ve got both organizations on the run. Will we see Linklieter or Rempert testify?”
“No way. Both of them are taking the fifth amendment.”
“What about the government officials?”
“Some of them were fired and are facing charges. Others are being suspended or reprimanded.”
“What about the robbery angle?”
“With Simon taking the fifth and both Stevens and Vandenburg dead, we can’t get more details. This is where we should have arrested Trenchard.”
“Can’t be helped. We don’t have enough evidence.”
“What about the charges that Simon made go away?”
“We have no proof of that yet. Until we do, they cannot be reinstated.”
“What about Leon Pace?”
“Also took the fifth amendment.”