[MH] Caribbean by Night

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

One bank I checked had a default limit of $800 per day but will let you arrange $2,000 per day. Another will allow up to $3,000 per day on domestic accounts and $2,000 per day on overseas accounts.

Varies, depending on the usual traffic at a given ATM. Some ATMs at busy (and secure) bank branches are loaded up with $200,000 on Friday afternoon to get through to Monday. The ones in small shopping centres and coastal villages have no call for so much cash.

So six cultists*/members of an organized crime organization**, three of whom have mundane identities as successful investment professionals of some kind (and the other three of whom are thugs, but rich thugs who probably have offshore accounts and might have nice credit cards, depending on how credit checks work in their countries), could expand their cash reserves by maybe $8,000 to $12,000 by using ATMs to withdraw from accounts in their home countries and maybe another (credit card daily limit x 6 = $12,000?) like sum or perhaps slightly more by maxing out their daily credit card limits at another ATM?

What if they foresaw, at noon on a Friday while preparing their trip, that they'd need more than that available in the US the next day (because at that point, it was clear that their logistics support there might be compromised)?

What might they be able to do in the way of money orders or something else, to be able to transform money in South American or Caribbean bank accounts into cash in the US?

They'd have one US lawyer known to their Peruvian bookkeeper who wasn't known to the compromised logistical personnel and so safe to use and he might even have a bank account prepared for their company, but normal international money transfers couldn't be completed between noon Friday and until banks close for the weekend.

I wonder if you could obtain stored-value cards that are somewhat widely accepted in the US in that time, like FreedomPay cards.

*The other cultists landing in Texas that day do not have the same familiarity with higher level criminal activity, money laundering and the like, so I'm ignoring them for this purpose. They'll carry cash and credit cards, but they aren't going to be doing anything related to international finance, as they don't have any cover companies in their name. As for the rest of the cultists, 14 of them are arriving by car from California and will have had plenty of time to arrange for TL7 vehicles and as much cash as they thought they needed for personal expenses, but they weren't carrying any spare cash for the other cells, as they couldn't predict that their logistical support would become compromised.
**Importation of methamphetamine precursors, other import-export and smuggling, as well as financial crimes and money laundering. No retail drug sale or even production. The three thugs are graduates of other criminal groups and more street-level activity, before becoming muscle for more the successful criminals/cultists, but none of these particular three has a criminal record (requisite to be able to easily fly into the US).

[Micahel Silverbane]

Originally Posted by Icelander

What might they be able to do in the way of money orders or something else, to be able to transform money in South American or Caribbean bank accounts into cash in the US?

They'd have one US lawyer known to their Peruvian bookkeeper who wasn't known to the compromised logistical personnel and so safe to use and he might even have a bank account prepared for their company, but normal international money transfers couldn't be completed between noon Friday and until banks close for the weekend.

I wonder if you could obtain stored-value cards that are somewhat widely accepted in the US in that time, like FreedomPay cards.

They could, maybe, make use of BitCoin or some other decentralized cryptocurrency, assuming that they had a reliable method of turning that currency back into cash. Though the volatility of the cryptocurrency market makes it seem (to me, at least) pretty unreliable.

Alternatively, they could use FedEx or UPS (or some other delivery service) to physically ship cash from one place to another, though that runs the risk of being subject to delays in Customs or being seized via civil asset forfeiture.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Micahel Silverbane

They could, maybe, make use of BitCoin or some other decentralized cryptocurrency, assuming that they had a reliable method of turning that currency back into cash. Though the volatility of the cryptocurrency market makes it seem (to me, at least) pretty unreliable.

They don't really care about potential financial losses, at least not in the context of a few hundred thousand dollars. By the time they realized that the previous logistical arrangements weren't necessarily secure*, they could easily devote $500,000 to providing their Texas team members with extra operational funds, not expecting to get any of it back.

Even if they lose half of it to arbitrage or currency risks (a wildly pessimistic estimate for twelve hours), that's still probably enough to buy five or six vehicles, which should be most of the cash outlay required. All other expenses can go on credit cards, especially for those cultists who are absolutely certain that human law enforcement will not be investigating anything after their ritual succeeds.

As for those two cult leaders who privately harbor doubts, perhaps they should avoid incriminating charges on their credit cards.

In any case, are there likely to be places in Dallas where you can walk in on a Saturday morning with $50,000+ in Bitcoins and walk out with US currency, no questions asked?

*A very sharp operations chief should have seen it the night of the 27th of December, but as it happened, the order to arrange alternate logistics and finances wasn't given until 13:00 Peruvian time (12:00 Dallas time) on the 28th of December, which gives them only a few hours until banks close for the weekend.

Originally Posted by Micahel Silverbane

Alternatively, they could use FedEx or UPS (or some other delivery service) to physically ship cash from one place to another, though that runs the risk of being subject to delays in Customs or being seized via civil asset forfeiture.

Well, if they're willing to take this in physical cash to the US, going through Customs, they might as well take it on the plane with them and go through the paperwork necessary.

I just assumed that that was too dangerous for them, as they don't want anything drawing law enforcement attention to them. I know that anything over $10,000 per person in cash has to be reported and accounted for through some kind of paperwork, but that funds in stored-charge cards do not, and that this is sometimes considered a loophole useful for money-laundering. So my best guess for how they'd want to do this is FreedomPay cards or the equivalent, if these can be bought in Chile, Ecuador, Peru or Colombia in the necessary amounts.

[Micahel Silverbane]

There are a number of BitCoin ATMs in Dallas. Some of these are accessible 24 hours a day. Those that are not appear to be accessible at normal retail business hours.

It looks there may be some restrictions on transaction size, based on identity confirmation...? So, they may be restricted to lesser transactions, though they could bypass that by having the transactions carried out by their uncompromised law office contact.

Limits and verifications:

$5 - 900 SMS verification & Name Entry
$905 - 3000 ID registration
$3005 - 8000 SSN & enhanced verification (call us)

It may also be possible to locate a private buyer capable of making a single large transaction, to avoid having to make multiple stops. Such a person might be involved in money laundering operations for some other criminal enterprise.

This seems like it would fall entirely into the purview of GM fiat. I know that there are people that privately trade in Bitcoin / Cash transactions, and there are people that keep relatively large amounts of physical cash, but I certainly don't have access to anyone that fits both of these criteria, and wouldn't know how your cultists might go about locating one within their restricted time frame. But still something to consider, I guess.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Micahel Silverbane

There are a number of BitCoin ATMs in Dallas. Some of these are accessible 24 hours a day. Those that are not appear to be accessible at normal retail business hours.

It looks there may be some restrictions on transaction size, based on identity confirmation...? So, they may be restricted to lesser transactions, though they could bypass that by having the transactions carried out by their uncompromised law office contact.

It may also be possible to locate a private buyer capable of making a single large transaction, to avoid having to make multiple stops. Such a person might be involved in money laundering operations for some other criminal enterprise.

This seems like it would fall entirely into the purview of GM fiat. I know that there are people that privately trade in Bitcoin / Cash transactions, and there are people that keep relatively large amounts of physical cash, but I certainly don't have access to anyone that fits both of these criteria, and wouldn't know how your cultists might go about locating one within their restricted time frame. But still something to consider, I guess.

Well, the cultists obtained $100,000 worth of BitCoin and instructed their Dallas-based lawyer to turn it into US currency. He, however, was not familiar with how to do this and only managed to obtain the $8,000 limit when he went out, Saturday morning.

As the cultist team lands, he's scrambling to get a secretary, paralegals or someone known to him to carry out extra transactions at the ATM, as well as driving to another to perform another transaction himself, but judging by Merchant skill checks made on his behalf our hapless, as-yet-unnamed lawyer is apparently not very Internet-savvy and very out of his depth when dealing with e-currency as opposed to more traditional banking (where the clients are usually more wiling to wait until banks open and international transfer can clear), so he'll fail to secure more than an extra $8,000 in the next two hours.

Of course, the cultists themselves can stop at such an ATM and get $3,000 each even without a US SSN, so that's an extra $15,000 or so.

As for the rest, they'll tell their laywer to stop, take possession of it it in BitCoin form again and try to turn more of it into cash on the way or in Houston. Or they could check if some guy selling a 50-year-old car on Craigslist will take payment in BitCoin.

[Micahel Silverbane]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Or they could check if some guy selling a 50-year-old car on Craigslist will take payment in BitCoin.

That's another congruence of traits that I hadn't thought of Car enthusiasts (or, more likely, car restoration enthusiasts, as they would be more amenable to parting with their relic cars) that would make a transaction in Bitcoin.

Also, a quick google search turns up this...

Sam Pack’s Five Star Ford dealership in Dallas is now accepting Bitcoin for new cars, but also Ford certified and non certified pre-owned vehicles.

... though it looks like the oldest model they currently have on inventory is 2006.

Edit: It looks like Streetside classics, operating out of Dallas, has a 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car on inventory for about $9,000, as well as a few other Sedans and Trucks in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. So, with the cash they've collected so far, they may be good to go.

[Celjabba]

Perhaps check for WW2 military trucks or Willy jeeps... collector will keep them in working order. (No idea if it is true in the US, that said)
Or old farming vehicles. Many farmers keep an old piece of junk that will start with some oil and a kick, in case the modern stuff die mid-harvest.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Micahel Silverbane

That's another congruence of traits that I hadn't thought of Car enthusiasts (or, more likely, car restoration enthusiasts, as they would be more amenable to parting with their relic cars) that would make a transaction in Bitcoin.

Also, a quick google search turns up this...



... though it looks like the oldest model they currently have on inventory is 2006.

Oh, well.

Originally Posted by Micahel Silverbane

Edit: It looks like Streetside classics, operating out of Dallas, has a 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car on inventory for about $9,000, as well as a few other Sedans and Trucks in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. So, with the cash they've collected so far, they may be good to go.

Excellent. I have no reason to assume that there would be less of a selection available on the 29th of December, 2018.

Then I declare that after three successful Merchant checks (against base skill), our Merchant -12 cultist who arrived first has successfully obtained a 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car for $9,000 cash and a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle for $31,900 cash. He was unable to secure a third car for what cash he had on hand and while he might have been able to get more cash by having the rest of his team join him and/or secure agreement to pay for the rest of the purchase price of the third by money transfer or BitCoin, he didn't have time for that and decided to make do with two cars for the six of them.

Fetching cash, Google research, negotiations, paperwork and driving to fetch the cars took him a total of three and a half hours, which means he's leaving Dallas at around 11:00, if we assume he could disembark and go through passport control at Dallas-Fort Worth International in an hour and a half. That allows him a chance to get to Indianola at the right time (before 18:00), though he's cutting it close if traffic should be bad, so he can only stop for gas and they'll have to eat in the vehicles.

Happily, the ordinary TL8 rental vehicles they used until they'd secured a couple of classic cars did not malfunction in any vital way. Nor did anyone get badly lost, although the GPS in one of the rental cars did not work (damn magicians).

And even more happily, the Consortium employees who were to leave packages with tactical equipment, cash, maps and briefing materials in storage lockers somewhere convenient had only stolen the cash before running off before being arrested in the massive manhunt, as they didn't want or need illegal guns, knives or the other stuff.

So the loyal soldier who risked picking up those packages driving a modern rental car while the TL7 transport was being arranged was able to secure plenty of useful stuff, just not more cash. And he didn't even run into a law enforcement sting or pick up surveillance, as Dallas PD had not yet started looking for the Consortium employees when they left the packages and had not managed to catch them yet either.

That disposes of the Dallas team, which was thus able to drive onwards to Indianola in two suitable vehicles and with some cash to spare. Of course, the cultist who bought the cars doesn't have the first idea about engines, but he was accompanied by another guy who has Mechanic -9, so... better than the average housewife? In any event, both cars seemed mechanically sound to him and didn't immediately collapse when they drove off.

This leaves the pishtaco who infiltrated on foot over the Mexico-Texas border (probably through Big Bend National Park) the night before and who were picked up by Consortium employees there. Of course, once the events that resulted in the cover companies operated by the Consortium there being compromised occurred, the Consortium employees were told they could leave, but the pishtaco took the TL7 vehicles.

I'll roll some dice for them in another post, that should be interesting, seeing as they aren't exactly the best at passing unnoticed in a social situation or figuring out a new country. Mostly, before becoming part-supernatural, they were either uneducated men from rural areas of the Andean countries or members of criminal subcultures.

I'll also roll for the Houston contingent in another post. That's a middle-aged nun, her middle-aged nurse friend and two young people, a young man in his twenties and a girl in her teens. They'll just be aiming to rent a TL7 automobile or two, with ordinary credit cards. I'll be rolling to see if the place Varyon found has a TL7 hearse and another TL7 car available for them at such short notice.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

Perhaps check for WW2 military trucks or Willy jeeps... collector will keep them in working order. (No idea if it is true in the US, that said)
Or old farming vehicles. Many farmers keep an old piece of junk that will start with some oil and a kick, in case the modern stuff die mid-harvest.

Right.

Let's declare that for the pishtaco, the Consortium had previously arranged for one 1970 Jeep M35 pick up (Deuce and a half), a 1968 Ford M151 (Mutt) and two of whatever pick-up trucks, vans or farm trucks that could be bought for cash from a farmer somewhere in Texas. They'll be bought in the name of a cover company which is not safe from law enforcement attention, but the paperwork on the purchases hasn't been filed yet, so they're hoping no one will notice this for the next few days.

What are common 1970s or older trucks, pick-ups or jeeps that might be available from farmers in Texas?

[Varyon]

If there are any further monetary concerns, considering (some of) the cultists have ties to the meth trade, it's possible they may be able to get into contact with the sort of criminal (pimps, high-ranking drug dealers, etc) who tends to have large sums of cash available and accepts Bitcoin for goods and services. While such probably don't usually make a habit of trading their illicit cash for Bitcoins, sufficient incentive - a markedly better-than-market exchange rate, a discount on product purchased in the near future, etc - may make them inclined to do just that. If the criminals are worried such a too-good-to-be-true deal is, well, just that, they might arrange for a dead drop or similar to give the cultists the funds (put the money in a storage locker and hide the key somewhere; once the cultists have provided the Bitcoins, tell them the location of the key and locker). This has the advantage to the cultists that their out-of-country assets can set it all up over the internet while they're still en route. This has the disadvantage that the criminals may be inclined to provide a key to an empty locker and abscond with the funds, although I'd imagine the cult has ways of... discouraging such behavior.