Financial crime & Rami

It was an ordinary autumn day. Rami was on his way back from practice. He had started going to the gym a few times a week – too often, according to his little brother, who would have preferred Rami to stay in playing PlayStation games with him.

Rami was happy with his life in general, but he had started to feel a bit invisible at school lately. His friends all played ice hockey, and everyone raved about their successes. No one really understood Rami’s interest in martial arts – and his hobby was therefore rarely mentioned in conversation.

But Rami had made new friends at the gym: a group of guys who went to the adult classes that Rami had been taking since the start of term.

Rami’s phone vibrated in his pocket. The message was from Veeti, one of Rami’s new friends from the gym.

Veeti had made a big impression on Rami. He had impeccable style and, according to social media, a pretty glamorous lifestyle. And he had a lot of friends.

‘Hey, how’s it going? I have an idea to run by you. I want us to start a business together.’

Rami felt excited. Veeti had asked him to be part of a new business that would undoubtedly also involve other amazing people. In fact, Rami felt honoured.

‘Sounds good. Tell me more’, he replied immediately.

Veeti had clearly been on his phone when he started typing.

‘Everyone’s buzzing about this new business. And we want you to be the manager because you’re good at maths, aren’t you?’

The conversation went on a little longer, and Rami was totally sold. All he needed to do was sign the paperwork and he would be the manager of the new business – a big boss! Veeti had promised a starting salary of EUR 500 per month. That was a lot of money for Rami.

It was easy to say yes. Veeti had invited Rami to a house party with all his fascinating friends. At the party, Veeti had pulled Rami aside and asked him to quickly sign the paperwork. Rami did not even get a chance to read through the contract – but he was sure it was all fine. It was time to celebrate the new venture! Awesome.

The new business was now up and running, and Rami was the manager. People at school had started to notice him, and he had got tonnes of new followers on social media after appearing in Veeti’s videos.

Being a boss felt easy to Rami. He just followed Veeti’s instructions, transferring amounts that were paid into his account into other accounts. Some of the amounts were modest, but there were also huge payments at times.

Everything was ticking over nicely, except for one time when Rami had been at practice and had not looked at his phone. Veeti had called 58 times and left several messages telling Rami to call him back. Rami called back after practice and was shouted at for being a bad boss and for not answering his phone. Veeti’s reaction seemed disproportionate, as he just wanted a regular money transfer, no different from any of the others that week.

Soon, however, Veeti’s odd behaviour started to become the norm. One time, Veeti showed up at Rami’s house demanding a money transfer now, instead of after dinner. Another time, Rami had to leave the classroom at school in the middle of a history lesson because Veeti needed him so urgently.

Rami started to feel uneasy about the whole set-up and to wonder what he should do. After a couple of weeks of soul searching, he plucked up the courage to speak to Veeti – he wanted out. Veeti’s reaction was not was Rami was expecting. He flew into a rage, screaming and shouting, and hung up on Rami. Rami was speechless.

The very next day, when Rami got home from school, he found Veeti waiting for him, playing PlayStation games with Rami’s little brother. The mood felt tense and ominous. As Veeti was leaving, he made it very clear to Rami that there would be no getting out unless Rami immediately paid EUR 8,000 to the business as compensation for quitting. Rami did not have that kind of money.

He therefore realised that he had no choice but to persevere with the business, even though he actually knew very little about it, including what it sold or even what line of business they were in. Rami kept going, time passed and the amounts being transferred became larger and larger.

Six months later, Rami received a call in the middle of the day that he had not seen coming. The tax authorities had become interested in the business that Rami was managing and had a lot of questions. Soon, the police got involved as well.

It transpired that although Rami knew next to nothing about the business in practice, he was the head of the entire operation on paper – he was, after all, the managing director. It turned out that the set-up described by Veeti was all made up and there actually was no business.

Rami’s gullibility had been shamelessly exploited, and the consequences were far more severe than he ever could have imagined. The operation essentially amounted to a sizeable financial crime involving tax fraud. Rami was charged with aggravated tax fraud, sentenced to twelve months of conditional imprisonment and ordered to pay damages based on the tax that had been groundlessly refunded to the business – and of course given a criminal record. He was no longer able to get in contact with Veeti, who had vanished into thin air, leaving only questions behind.

But it was not the indictment or the criminal penalties that affected Rami the most. The unsettling truth only hit him later, when he realised the extent of what he had unwittingly done. He had put his little brother in danger by letting Veeti into his life. Veeti had invaded their home and been an uninvited and menacing presence in their safe place. Thankfully nothing happened – this time.

Shame ate away at Rami. The criminal record meant that he could forget his dreams of becoming a police officer or having a career in the Defence Forces. What made this especially mortifying was the fact that all his friends and family knew about his situation. His father’s brother, in particular, had always spoken reverently about a career in the army and encouraged Rami to pursue that path.

Rami’s future now looked uncertain and aimless. Getting involved with organised crime had messed up everything.