Hi all - I'm setting up an antagonist in my third manuscript to be a blue-blood, New York exec who just doesn't feel he's getting enough when he compares his multimillion dollar bonuses to those of his colleagues. So he's gonna set up a sham mutual fund and sucker a few unsuspecting rich people to buy in, and then funnel the money somewhere for his personal use.
I've read about the big-name criminals who've been caught doing this sort of thing in recent years, but I don't know how they managed to set up their schemes in the first place and then function within them for any length of time so that the money could, in fact, be illegally gotten. And while I have enough of an idea to create a skeleton, I'm on the hunt for some flesh, or realistic details to beef up the back story.
So. My questions are:
1. What are some realistic scenarios my nefarious bad guy could concoct to bilk his friends out of big chunks of cash?
2. How would he be (cleverly) caught/discovered by officials?
3. What might be a detail that could out him, one that may not be obvious to a non-official but would be to someone in the know? I have a character I want to fall unwittingly into danger over something she sees, like a fake prospectus? Or reads in an email - something suggestive but not outright damning, so my bad guy doesn't know if he's in trouble or not but becomes worried enough to go after the woman who saw this questionable thing.
Would love to get ideas from y'all, and you have my sincere thanks for considering my nonsense when you have your own work to ride herd on!
I've read about the big-name criminals who've been caught doing this sort of thing in recent years, but I don't know how they managed to set up their schemes in the first place and then function within them for any length of time so that the money could, in fact, be illegally gotten. And while I have enough of an idea to create a skeleton, I'm on the hunt for some flesh, or realistic details to beef up the back story.
So. My questions are:
1. What are some realistic scenarios my nefarious bad guy could concoct to bilk his friends out of big chunks of cash?
2. How would he be (cleverly) caught/discovered by officials?
3. What might be a detail that could out him, one that may not be obvious to a non-official but would be to someone in the know? I have a character I want to fall unwittingly into danger over something she sees, like a fake prospectus? Or reads in an email - something suggestive but not outright damning, so my bad guy doesn't know if he's in trouble or not but becomes worried enough to go after the woman who saw this questionable thing.
Would love to get ideas from y'all, and you have my sincere thanks for considering my nonsense when you have your own work to ride herd on!