When the men got down to the "meat of the discussion"
Steve and Fritz told Ross that they had "Strong reason to believe, that Fish had diverted "at least" twenty five to fifty million dollars of money that was given to RFS Canada by investors, to either other open end deals which did not involve anything that would benefit those investors, RFS Canada, Ross, Fritz, or Steve
In addition, it was also possible which a land deal which was supposed to been jointly held by Ross, Fritz, Steve, and John, for the purpose of exploring for oil, gas, energy, and such in Canada, was either "not funded" or "drained of funds " by Fish, for either his personal use, or, again, diverted to either other deals not involving Ross, Fritz, or Steve for John's personal use.
Ross , who had every possible thing on the face of the planet in business happen to him, losing companies, deals, money, and RossShell itself the first time, and weathered the storm.
Ross felt like he had been "slugged to the canvas" and blindsided, with something that was supposed to have been his and Kayley's "safety net", and now, could be blown to smithereens. by Fish;s actions, to destroy not only the RFS Canada company, but also, John's reputation and personally, and cause future investors, to question Ross, Fritz, and Steve's "choice of who they did business with, and whether or not future investors and or clients could trust those men solo , and separate and apart from Fish.
Simply put, Ross felt nauseous, and felt like he was going to be sick. He sipped iced tea, and managed to keep his stomach from going off.
Ross was finally able to speak.
"Okay, so Fish did all these things, that look like they are going to destroy RFS Canada. It seems as if we vote to throw him out of the company, due to these actions, it wont be enough. Even if we do that, while the investors who were affected by this could sue and attack Fish personally , they could also attack us and or RFS Canada, claiming, "That we colluded with Fish on these actions", and also. "How could we be involved with, and run a company with this guy, and not have kept a closer eye on what was going on, and what our partner was doing, even if three of us are innocent, and it was only Fish who did this. So now the question is, what the Hell do we do?" Ross said,.
Steve sighed. "We could try to hire a forensic accountant, quietly. We do that, and dont say a word to Fish. The thing is, if Fish finds out, two things can, could, and likely will happen. Fish will deny everything, sue all of us, the accountant, and such, start a free for all with RFS Canada, and also, attack RFS US also.
Ross also sighed. "Steve, since you are the most calm one of all of us, I suggest that you send Fish a letter telling him that we found out about all this, or, hire an attorney only on your behalf. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that we can attempt to freeze Fish out of RFS USA, claiming that we found out these actions, until someone can throughly investigate RFS Canada , and see exactly how bad what Fish did is, and what the specific number is. I dont want to lose both companies of course, but, maybe, if we tell Fish that if he confesses what he did, and works out a payment plan to pay all of this money back, in return for being kicked out of both companies, and not being sued by investors or brought up on criminal charges by anyone. This almost reminds me of a case of Embezzlement I heard about once by a guy who was a CPA and financial advisor, and was brought up on charges of taking his clients and investors money that was supposed to be earmarked for deals for them, and used it for his own personal use" Ross said.
"Tomorrow morning, we are all going to the office, and we are drafting a letter to Fish sent registered mail, telling him what we found out. In the meantime, we have to get an attorney and show them all this, to freeze any power Fish had or has on RFS US, and use that to prevent Fish from hurting us with that company. " Ross said.
Steve sighed. "Okay"
Steve and Fritz drove Ross back to his hotel, where Ross called Kayley.
"It's bad, Kale. Very, very bad,. John Fish took probably fifty million dollars that was supposed to be used for RFS Canada's investors to benefit them and buy spaces in RFS Canada, and diverted said funds to other companies of his that would not benefit said investors, and for his own personal use,. Unless an attorney can figure a way to kick Fish out of RFS Canada, and somehow reduce the company by taking out those investors, and making them separately able to sue Fish, all four of us might get sued as officers of the company, claiming that we "colluded " with Fish , claiming how could we be in a company with this guy, and not know anything that is going on. We think that RFS US can be saved by using these actions to freeze Fish out of the company, and just run the US company with Steve, Fritz, and I. That is, unless Fish did something else that we dont know about" Ross said.
""Ross, I;'m , so so sorry. This is so different than anything that happened to you with RossShell. With RossShell, it was you and one or two people who had claims, , like Tazzio and or Borgier, who fought over claims with the company, deals or money, but since you are CEO of RossShell, that directly involved you. To lose RFS Canada because of something you did not even do, makes me sick to my stomach" Kayley said.
Steve, Fritz and I are going to try to get a forensic accountant or investigator or lawyer to see if said person can snoop around to find out the specifics, with the money, and exactly what Fish did, and also, if this involves just RFS Canada, or in any way involves RFS US. If it involves the latter, or both companies, the whole house of cards, and both companies might crumble. If this was a business game of chess, or a baseball game, we have to see if we can "limit the damage" if that is possible. I will talk to you tomorrow. I have to "digest this" as my Dad likes to say.
"Okay, baby, have a calm night" Kayley said.
In spite of taking a calming med, Ross of course did not sleep. Predictably, Ross got up in the middle of the night, felt violently ill, and started throwing up in the toilet.
Ross drank Pepto Bismol, and tried to sleep, to absolutely no avail.
Ross awakened at 7 am. He slowly ate a bagel, took his meds, and went in an Uber to the office.
A sullen Fritz and Steve were sitting in Steve's office.
"You look terrible, Ross" Steve said.
"I barely slept, and I got sick to my stomach during the night. It's almost like,. what we worked so hard to build, is going to crumble, not by the actions of any of us. By a man that we all happen to all be in partnership with, that none of us even like as a person, for the benefit of himself, other parties and investors, and other suitors. I also was thinking. Maybe Fish has or had, other separate deals that "went bad", and , to avoid being sued by those parties, used this money that was supposed to be for the benefit of RFS investors, to fund those deals, and prevent him or other partners in other deals, from being sued. Maybe he considered the other deals, companies, or investors, more important than us, our investors, and or our company, RFS Canada" Ross said.
"Now the question is, what in God's name do we do?" Steve asked.
Before Ross could even say a word, the secretary came in.
"Steve, I dont know exactly what is going on, but from the look on your faces, I know that it has to be something serious, and bad. I wanted to tell you that two calls came through at literally the same time on two office lines. One is John Fish, and another is a strange lawyer who said he wants to talk to one of you, whose name and voice I dont recognize" The secretary said.
Steve would answer the call, as he had the most calm demeanor, and would not get "Hot under the collar"
Was it true? Was the empire that had been RFS about to come crumbling down? Would it be just RFS Canada? All of RFS including RFS Canada and RFS USA, or, was there a way around all of it, to kick Fish out, have him sued by those with claims against him, where both companies could be saved, even if one or both was in a diminished capacity?
That would all be seen.
Steve and Fritz told Ross that they had "Strong reason to believe, that Fish had diverted "at least" twenty five to fifty million dollars of money that was given to RFS Canada by investors, to either other open end deals which did not involve anything that would benefit those investors, RFS Canada, Ross, Fritz, or Steve
In addition, it was also possible which a land deal which was supposed to been jointly held by Ross, Fritz, Steve, and John, for the purpose of exploring for oil, gas, energy, and such in Canada, was either "not funded" or "drained of funds " by Fish, for either his personal use, or, again, diverted to either other deals not involving Ross, Fritz, or Steve for John's personal use.
Ross , who had every possible thing on the face of the planet in business happen to him, losing companies, deals, money, and RossShell itself the first time, and weathered the storm.
Ross felt like he had been "slugged to the canvas" and blindsided, with something that was supposed to have been his and Kayley's "safety net", and now, could be blown to smithereens. by Fish;s actions, to destroy not only the RFS Canada company, but also, John's reputation and personally, and cause future investors, to question Ross, Fritz, and Steve's "choice of who they did business with, and whether or not future investors and or clients could trust those men solo , and separate and apart from Fish.
Simply put, Ross felt nauseous, and felt like he was going to be sick. He sipped iced tea, and managed to keep his stomach from going off.
Ross was finally able to speak.
"Okay, so Fish did all these things, that look like they are going to destroy RFS Canada. It seems as if we vote to throw him out of the company, due to these actions, it wont be enough. Even if we do that, while the investors who were affected by this could sue and attack Fish personally , they could also attack us and or RFS Canada, claiming, "That we colluded with Fish on these actions", and also. "How could we be involved with, and run a company with this guy, and not have kept a closer eye on what was going on, and what our partner was doing, even if three of us are innocent, and it was only Fish who did this. So now the question is, what the Hell do we do?" Ross said,.
Steve sighed. "We could try to hire a forensic accountant, quietly. We do that, and dont say a word to Fish. The thing is, if Fish finds out, two things can, could, and likely will happen. Fish will deny everything, sue all of us, the accountant, and such, start a free for all with RFS Canada, and also, attack RFS US also.
Ross also sighed. "Steve, since you are the most calm one of all of us, I suggest that you send Fish a letter telling him that we found out about all this, or, hire an attorney only on your behalf. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that we can attempt to freeze Fish out of RFS USA, claiming that we found out these actions, until someone can throughly investigate RFS Canada , and see exactly how bad what Fish did is, and what the specific number is. I dont want to lose both companies of course, but, maybe, if we tell Fish that if he confesses what he did, and works out a payment plan to pay all of this money back, in return for being kicked out of both companies, and not being sued by investors or brought up on criminal charges by anyone. This almost reminds me of a case of Embezzlement I heard about once by a guy who was a CPA and financial advisor, and was brought up on charges of taking his clients and investors money that was supposed to be earmarked for deals for them, and used it for his own personal use" Ross said.
"Tomorrow morning, we are all going to the office, and we are drafting a letter to Fish sent registered mail, telling him what we found out. In the meantime, we have to get an attorney and show them all this, to freeze any power Fish had or has on RFS US, and use that to prevent Fish from hurting us with that company. " Ross said.
Steve sighed. "Okay"
Steve and Fritz drove Ross back to his hotel, where Ross called Kayley.
"It's bad, Kale. Very, very bad,. John Fish took probably fifty million dollars that was supposed to be used for RFS Canada's investors to benefit them and buy spaces in RFS Canada, and diverted said funds to other companies of his that would not benefit said investors, and for his own personal use,. Unless an attorney can figure a way to kick Fish out of RFS Canada, and somehow reduce the company by taking out those investors, and making them separately able to sue Fish, all four of us might get sued as officers of the company, claiming that we "colluded " with Fish , claiming how could we be in a company with this guy, and not know anything that is going on. We think that RFS US can be saved by using these actions to freeze Fish out of the company, and just run the US company with Steve, Fritz, and I. That is, unless Fish did something else that we dont know about" Ross said.
""Ross, I;'m , so so sorry. This is so different than anything that happened to you with RossShell. With RossShell, it was you and one or two people who had claims, , like Tazzio and or Borgier, who fought over claims with the company, deals or money, but since you are CEO of RossShell, that directly involved you. To lose RFS Canada because of something you did not even do, makes me sick to my stomach" Kayley said.
Steve, Fritz and I are going to try to get a forensic accountant or investigator or lawyer to see if said person can snoop around to find out the specifics, with the money, and exactly what Fish did, and also, if this involves just RFS Canada, or in any way involves RFS US. If it involves the latter, or both companies, the whole house of cards, and both companies might crumble. If this was a business game of chess, or a baseball game, we have to see if we can "limit the damage" if that is possible. I will talk to you tomorrow. I have to "digest this" as my Dad likes to say.
"Okay, baby, have a calm night" Kayley said.
In spite of taking a calming med, Ross of course did not sleep. Predictably, Ross got up in the middle of the night, felt violently ill, and started throwing up in the toilet.
Ross drank Pepto Bismol, and tried to sleep, to absolutely no avail.
Ross awakened at 7 am. He slowly ate a bagel, took his meds, and went in an Uber to the office.
A sullen Fritz and Steve were sitting in Steve's office.
"You look terrible, Ross" Steve said.
"I barely slept, and I got sick to my stomach during the night. It's almost like,. what we worked so hard to build, is going to crumble, not by the actions of any of us. By a man that we all happen to all be in partnership with, that none of us even like as a person, for the benefit of himself, other parties and investors, and other suitors. I also was thinking. Maybe Fish has or had, other separate deals that "went bad", and , to avoid being sued by those parties, used this money that was supposed to be for the benefit of RFS investors, to fund those deals, and prevent him or other partners in other deals, from being sued. Maybe he considered the other deals, companies, or investors, more important than us, our investors, and or our company, RFS Canada" Ross said.
"Now the question is, what in God's name do we do?" Steve asked.
Before Ross could even say a word, the secretary came in.
"Steve, I dont know exactly what is going on, but from the look on your faces, I know that it has to be something serious, and bad. I wanted to tell you that two calls came through at literally the same time on two office lines. One is John Fish, and another is a strange lawyer who said he wants to talk to one of you, whose name and voice I dont recognize" The secretary said.
Steve would answer the call, as he had the most calm demeanor, and would not get "Hot under the collar"
Was it true? Was the empire that had been RFS about to come crumbling down? Would it be just RFS Canada? All of RFS including RFS Canada and RFS USA, or, was there a way around all of it, to kick Fish out, have him sued by those with claims against him, where both companies could be saved, even if one or both was in a diminished capacity?
That would all be seen.
