Chapter 141: Gaining Control
After concluding the deal, the next step had been for Jason to create a secure account with a high-level bank that would ensure he maintained his anonymity. Jason had spoken to Juliet about a bank that he could use when they had their first meeting. The conditions for choosing a bank were simple. First, Jason had to be sure that they were not connected to the government in any way, or at least he had to be sure that they couldn’t be subjected to audits by government bodies. And secondly, Jason had to make sure that the bank would be willing to keep his identity a secret.Thankfully, Juliet knew a bank that would be able to help Jason out in both of those aspects. Juliet’s family, the Raphas, were exceptionally rich since they were already a thriving metal processing company before going into the Magic Item dealing business. And as a rich family, it was a necessity for them to have contacts with some of the highest authorities in the banking sector to ensure their funds were well taken care of.
The name of the bank Juliet referred him to was Shield Investments. Its main headquarters was on Wall Street, New York, but there was a branch located here in Riverdale. It was inside a high-rise building in the business sector of Riverdale, and Jason had to go up fifty floors just to reach it. The bank was as lavish as a bank could get. Pristine polished marble floors and mahogany ceilings with a fancy chandelier floating just overhead. There were men and women wearing very expensive suits and walking around with folders in their hands. They never rushed and they never seemed to be lost or confused, and Jason was grateful when none of them turned to him or gawked. They simply continued on their way in a pompous and almost snobbish manner.
The man standing at the entrance asked Jason who he was there to see, and once Jason told him the name of the banker, he bowed to Jason and began to lead him towards the appropriate office.
The person that Jason had come to meet was the same banker who handled the funds for the Tenet company and the Rapha family, and so Juliet had informed him that Jason would be coming around for business. The guide knocked once and waited for the man to allow them in before he opened the door and ushered Jason inside. Inside the office was just as pristine as the rest of the bank, and the man behind a large oak desk stood and extended his hand to Jason in a confident greeting.
"Mr. Jason Marc. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Raymond Green. I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Madam Rapha."
Jason smiled back and thanked the man for meeting him on such short notice, and the man waved it away! He was here for business, so he would never turn away a business meeting, especially when it came from a family that had been with them for so long.
"Please, have a seat. I’ve just been looking through the request file that you sent earlier, and I must say, it’s quite an interesting set of demands. You’re not only asking us to accept large sums of money without proper knowledge of their origin, but you’re also asking for our discretion when dealing with government agencies to ensure you are kept anonymous."
Jason hummed while leaning back in the seat calmly.
"Is it not possible?"
The banker laughed.
"Please, Mr. Jason. You are hardly the first millionaire who desired to keep his actual net worth a secret from the government. Our bank has been dealing with high-value families for the past two centuries, and in that time we have never once exposed the actual net worth or identity of any of our customers who asked us not to. A situation like this is just like any other day."
Jason smiled at that. At least with a bank like this, he could be sure that no one would meddle in his assets. The banker began to produce some forms for Jason to sign and stamp, and Jason went through them calmly as the banker spoke up.
"You or your lawyer can have a look at the documents and fax them to us once you are done signing. We won’t need anything else from you other than this, so the moment we receive them, your account will be opened and ready for receiving funds."
Jason nodded along before he thanked the banker and left. Jason had a lawyer look through the documents, and that took another two hours out of his day as he tried to make sure there were no loopholes or hidden clauses there as well. Once he was sure that the contract was ironclad, Jason signed the documents and sent them by fax to the bank.
Jason had a plan to start up a ghost LLC in the future so that he would be able to funnel the money more easily through that and also avoid some taxes, but for now, he had to make do with Shield Investments.
And now that Jason was done with all of that, he was heading to his mother’s restaurant to help out there. The bank had sent a message stating that his account was successfully created, and Jason only had to wait for an hour so that the funds would be sent in from Tenet. If Jason had any issues or if he wanted to make a large withdrawal, then he would be able to call Raymond since he was his personal banker. But Jason could make withdrawals below five million dollars without any issues.
Jason saw his mother’s restaurant appear in the distance and he frowned slightly when he saw various cars parked close to the building. There were some people standing about with cameras and Jason immediately knew that they had to be journalists. Were these fuckers targeting his mother now because he didn’t give them an interview?
Jason felt rage build up inside him once he realized what could be happening and he sped up slightly to reach the restaurant faster! As he approached, the reporters standing about immediately perked up! The cameramen immediately began to point their cameras toward Jason while the reporters grabbed their microphones to try and ask him questions! Jason parked his bike to the side without bothering to pay the reporters any mind and he unleashed some of the mana in his body to make sure no one would dare come too close to him!
The reporters gave Jason a wide berth once they felt the intense power rolling off him, and Jason walked past them while ignoring their questions. He got to the entrance and immediately entered.
"Mum, is everything... okay?"
Jason paused in surprise at what he saw all around him. The restaurant was packed! There were people sitting in every possible space inside the building and some people were even standing as they ate their food! Each and every single person there looked like they worked for one television network or another, and Jason could only imagine that they were reporters who had come to ask his mother questions. How in the world did his mother manage to make them all sit down so quietly?
A woman sitting at the side perked up once she saw Jason and she came around and spoke quickly!
"Mr. Jason! My name is Easter from the AVC channel. I was wondering if—"
"Ah-hem!"
A voice from behind Easter made her flinch slightly and Jason tilted his head to one side to see his mother giving Easter a hard glare from behind the counter! Easter’s face flushed in slight anger before she turned and left Jason alone.