The Golfing Buddy
His targets were counterfeiters, honey pot charlatans, stock market scammers and ponzi scheme magicians.
Here is a teaser excerpt from my new novel. Hopefully it will inspire you to purchase a copy from my authors website https://www.books.by/rick-elkin …
- Jerry put himself through college working in the automotive sales industry. He worked in the finance department of a local Ford dealership doing the “backend” of the deals, structuring the loans, confirming the buyers credit rating, completing the paperwork of the sales contracts. Occasionally he would fill in for sales agents when they were out sick or on vacation, so he had a thorough knowledge of the whole process.
He also witnessed the dark side of the industry: the common use of stimulants. Jerry was never going to go down that road because, as a teenager, he saw a lot of that amongst the people in the bars his dad frequented. Those were bitter memories. He never suspected his dad of using, but he was certain many of the other men were. It was amazing how many beers someone can consume after snorting a couple lines of coke. He also knew one of the advantages his dad, and eventually himself, would always have, and that was the ability to out-think his competition. So keeping a clear head was priority one.
Jerry was driven. He was willing to work anytime he could to make extra money and to get ahead. Once he finished his MBA, he went full time at the dealership, but it was grueling work, nights, weekends and holidays and he felt under appreciated and under paid. While Don hooked up with his college sweetheart and relocated to San Diego, Jerry was working long hours at the car lot in LA.
Then one day Jerry was looking at the sales contract paperwork for a man who worked at a government job. He was a Special Assistant to the Chief Investigator at the Securities Exchange Commission. He reported his annual income at $170K. That sparked Jerry’s interest. The guys credit rating was golden. He lived in a really nice neighborhood. And he had been at the job for only seven years.
It took him 13 months after submitting his application, but Jerry hooked up with the SEC. In 1978 the agency enrolled him in advanced securities studies and investigative techniques classes. He aced them. They placed him in their Western Regional offices in Santa Ana.
Jerry had found nirvana. He had always wondered what it was about drugs that held users so captive while simultaneously destroying their lives. He had found the same kind of elixir, except in this case he was doing society a service and making a great living at the same time.
He always loved competition, but investigating securities crimes was the ultimate challenge and getting convictions the best rush he ever felt.
His targets were counterfeiters, honey pot charlatans, stock market scammers and ponzi scheme magicians. Most looked like the nice guy next door while they swindled their victims out of every last dime of their savings.
In order for agents to properly infiltrate and investigate securities fraud, the commission would set them up with phony business profiles, and even better yet, they paid for Jerry to join Big Canyon Country Club, in Newport Beach. Part of his job was to mingle with bankers and financial wranglers who funded big developments, securities managers, high net worth consultants, anyone who was involved in high finance. That was the community he worked. And many of those folks were into golf. Hanging with them in an atmosphere of relaxation, anything goes guy-talk, was a powerful tool to uncovering secrets. So he worked the club house restaurants and bars after his rounds, hoping to find some high roller types he could hook up with.
Five years later, the Western Regional Director visited the Santa Ana SEC offices. The bureau was planning to expand into San Diego, as it was emerging as a booming economy. They were looking for volunteers to move down south. Jerry couldn’t get his hand up fast enough. He was tired of fighting traffic, of spending the majority of his time on the numerous freeways interconnecting LA and Orange County. In his mind moving into San Diego County would be an exciting new frontier of untold riches.
After five years of service, he was still renting in Santa Ana. Housing costs in the Orange County area were still too high, so he was certain he could buy a lot more house in the suburbs of San Diego than he could dream about in west Orange County.
Six months later Jerry bought a newly constructed tract house in Chula Vista and immediately joined the San Diego Country Club. He was attracted to it because the course resembled Whittier Narrows, designed by William Bell Jr., who had recently remodeled the SDCC course. And the membership profile fit the target: Mostly upper-end homeowners working in the San Diego Downtown financial district. He also was attracted to it’s heritage, sponsoring several pro contests and an annual charity event to raise money for kids golf.
It was while playing in the Billy Casper inspired fundraiser “Billy’s Kids” in August, 1983, that Jerry spots an old friend in the parking lot, that would prove to be a turning point in Don Carter’s life.
