Shadow Empire

Chapter 297 Balz Investment Bank

In the afternoon, in the city center, at the Balz Investment Bank, on the busiest and most prosperous street, the huge gold-plated signboard radiated golden light under the sunlight!

Since its arrival here, Balz Investment Bank has made a lot of news for "Golden Port Today".

They initially said that their sign was made of gold, and then someone came to steal the sign in the middle of the night and was hit by the falling sign.

One of his legs was broken, but he endured the pain of the fracture and he and his three companions pushed the largest letter "B" onto the pickup truck and transported it away.

The next day, someone at Balz Investment Bank discovered that a letter was missing and called the police.

As a result, not long after the police were called, the three thieves also called the police because they discovered that the letter was not made of gold at all!

It's made of steel, with just a layer of gold foil on the outside!

The price offered by the recycling station was not enough to cover their broken bones, so the three stupid thieves not only called the police, but also went to the media to expose the Balz Investment Bank for deceiving the public and to file a lawsuit against them.

Especially the stupid thief whose leg was broken, he not only asked Balz Investment Bank to pay all his medical expenses, but also asked for additional compensation of at least 50,000 yuan for various losses.

Eventually these three idiots were all sent in, but people also realized that the signboard of Anxie that looked like real gold was actually just steel with gold foil on it and was worthless.

Merchants on the street across from them have complained about them more than once, and disputes have even occurred between them.

They used a lot of glass exterior walls and added a "golden signboard". Although the building is not very tall, the overall look is sparkling!

When the sunlight is strong, not to mention the merchants in the shops opposite, even pedestrians will be blinded by the reflection of various lights.

Many cars have had car accidents here. Drivers said that when they suddenly drove to a certain area, the dazzling light made them unable to open their eyes, and they subconsciously turned the steering wheel and crashed into the roadside.

Various lawsuits and troubles soon made Balz Investment Bank famous in Jingang City, not because their financial products were so popular, but because they caused a lot of trouble.

But because of this, many people began to pay attention to this investment bank.

Today, its exterior walls have been modified a lot and no longer cause light pollution. The golden signboard has also been changed to an uneven stone-like texture, which also no longer reflects golden light.

It makes it look a little mysterious and noble.

The not very big parking lot at the entrance was filled with luxury cars worth at least ten thousand dollars. The gentlemen passing by were still wearing full suits and ties even in the weather of 27 or 28 degrees!

When Lance got off the car at the door, someone soon came up to greet him, "Sir, welcome to Balz Investment Bank. What business are you here for?"

Lance looked inside and said, "I heard that the financial products here are great?"

The man immediately showed an expression of surprise, but quickly restrained it. He didn't want to scare away the customer!

As he led Lance inside, he said, "Do you know anything about our Balz Investment Bank?"

Lance shook his head, "Not really sure."

The manager began to introduce the origin of Balz Investment Bank to him. "Count Balz is a noble of Carr. He was canonized and ordered by Emperor Carr and once secretly managed the royal family's wealth for the royal family."

"He has an investment ability that is difficult for ordinary people to understand and believe. In a very short period of time, he made the Jiaer Empire a powerful country with the world's leading military strength!"

Lance couldn't help but ask, "Why haven't I heard about this?"

The manager quickly explained, "I told you, this is a secret management, the royal family doesn't want others to know about this..."

So you are just saying it out loud now?

There is no doubt that it is a lie full of loopholes, but we have to admit that it does sound very scary at first glance, and in this era of backward information exchange, no one can really verify the authenticity of this matter.

And they used the word "secret". Even if someone really took a boat to Jiaer and was able to find the local nobles to ask, even if they couldn't get the answer, they could say that this itself was a secret!
Lance didn't expose him and continued to walk inside with him. There were many similar situations in the hall. Those young people were surrounding one or several people and introducing Balz Investment Bank.

"After Count Barz retired, he passed on his secret of making money to the young Count Barz. The current Count Barz has inherited everything from the old Count Barz, and is even better!"

As he spoke, the two of them had already arrived at the front counter. He took out a document and said, "Shall we sit over there for a while?"

He had assessed that Lance came by private car and had his own driver, which meant that he could afford to buy financial products.

This is a potential, high-quality customer!

He has seen many of his colleagues realize their federal dreams, and he has also closed several deals in this small hall, but he is still some distance away from the federal dream.

He tries his best to complete every order, taking one more step towards his dream every day and getting one step closer to the finish line.

The two came to a small sofa set where no one was sitting. There were small sofa sets like this everywhere, with four or five individual sofas surrounding a small coffee table.

Then a staff member brought coffee and pastries, and the manager briefly introduced himself, "My name is Wally, the account manager. You can come directly to me next time you come."

He flipped through the materials. There were not many descriptions on them, mostly large photos. "This is our Baltz Investment Bank's global business, spread across 87 countries, with a total of more than 3,000 large-scale investment projects and 10,000 small and medium-sized investment projects."

"We even control the economic lifelines of some small countries. Many people call us the powerful 'Golden Yuan Empire'!"

When he said these words, Lance could clearly feel that Wally himself believed everything he said.

Then he began to show Lance these investment projects, such as the Royal Farm, the Royal Ranch, and the shares of internationally renowned companies...

Most of these industries are not located in the Federation, and the few that are related to the Federation are not in Likalai State.

This means that they have no good way to verify it, and Lance even believes that many of these industries are fictitious.

After introducing a bunch of investment projects that no one knew whether they really existed, Wally began to talk about joining, "...Mr. White (Lance's last name), Count Balz believes that these few years are a very critical moment."

"The global financial economy is facing a huge leap. If you look closely at the development of the financial economy of human society, you will find that every once in a while, it will usher in a huge increase."

"Scientific and technological breakthroughs and technical exchanges are the core driving factors!"

"But none of us know what to invest in to really make money. There are huge risks involved!"

"Earl Balz was once in danger, and a federal couple helped him. So in order to repay the kindness and love of the federal people, he established Balz Investment Bank."

"We will help you manage your wealth and help you grow your wealth. We have many high-quality investment projects around the world, which will bring you huge returns every month."

"If you are interested, I can introduce you to..."

After getting Lance's permission, he began to introduce these with great effort.

From financial product projects with a starting investment of 1,000 yuan to projects with a starting investment of 200,000 yuan, the rates of return on different financial projects are also different.

The lowest rate of return was only 7%, but even so, the benefits it brought were already somewhat outrageous.

According to the current interest rates, it is entirely possible to obtain long-term low-interest loans from banks, and then use the money to invest in these financial products, which can also generate stable profits.

As long as it exceeds 20,000 yuan, you can basically get a 15% return rate every month. If it exceeds 200,000 yuan, it will be a 20% return rate every month!

These financial products are obviously fraught with all kinds of problems. As long as your mind is not blinded by greed, you will be able to find the problems!

It's a sure-win business, why don't they do it themselves? Why do they sell it to ordinary people? Just because... to repay a favor?
Well, the logic is closed. Although they are all low-quality lies, at least their story can be self-consistent, because Count Balz has received kindness and help from the federal people, so he wants to give back to the federal society.

Not only did he expose the fact that he was secretly managing royal assets for the royal family, he also announced all his investment projects with great fanfare. Is this possible?
But under the temptation of high returns, everyone thinks it is possible!

As for those who are not fooled? They are screened out. Only those who are stupid enough are needed here, not those who are smart enough.

If you don't believe it, you can leave, but if you make trouble, it will be difficult to deal with!

After Lance listened to Wally's talk for a while, he asked, "Did you buy any products yourself?"

Wally was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "I have purchased this 'Gold Brick Three-Year Product', which has a 9% return rate every month."

Lance asked again, "Have you made your money back yet?"

Wally shook his head. "These financial products have only been around for a short time, so it will take some time to get back my investment, and I have invested all the profits I made back!"

Looking at his sincere smile, Lance felt... he was actually quite happy, at least he was happy now.

“Mr. Lance, almost all of our employees have purchased the product, including our boss. You can trust us completely.”

"If you have some spare money, I recommend you choose this 100,000 yuan product. With a 17% return rate, you can earn 17,000 yuan in interest every month."

“You can get your money back in just six months, and then every month after that you’ll get net profit.”

"After the contract ends, the principal will be returned to you in one lump sum. After two years, you will receive a total return of 500,000 including principal and interest!"

Many people were stunned and confused when they heard so many numbers. How could they care about whether it was a scam or not?
Lance observed the entire hall. It was magnificent, everything seemed unusually high-end and normal, with light and wide spaces everywhere, making people believe from the bottom of their hearts that this was not a place for filth and dirt to hide.

“It’s a bit presumptuous, but can I ask how many people have purchased your financial products?”

Lance also explained, "I believe that most people's choices should be correct, so I hope you can give me a real number. If this number impresses me, I will consider buying the top-priced product!"

Wally almost jumped up!
If Mr. White really purchased financial products worth $200,000, he could get $40,000 in commission alone!
This is equivalent to the total amount of money he has earned since he was a child!
"Mr. White, I have to say that you have a unique vision. At least 7,000 people have chosen to trust us, entrust their funds to us for investment and profit from it."

"I know some people are questioning us, but think about it. It's not strange to have one idiot, but isn't it strange to have at least 7,000 rich idiots who are all stupid together?"

“So this is not a scam. The reason why the rich are getting richer is their courage and wisdom. Your courage and wisdom make you different from them!”

Lance nodded slightly after listening to this, "Can you use cash here?"

"Of course, we support both cash and transfer!", he said with great anticipation!

In his eyes, Lance at this moment was the living 40,000 yuan!
Lance took out a cigarette, and Wally quickly bent over and lit it for him. "I invested so much money, can I meet with Count Balz?"

"I believe that two hundred thousand should be enough to buy me a chance to meet him. What do you think?"

Wally was stunned for a moment, "I need to ask for instructions, please wait." He became more and more convinced that Lance really wanted to invest!
Soon he went from a door to another room, and after waiting for a few minutes he hadn't returned, but he saw an acquaintance, Barbara.

Barbara felt a little strange when she saw Lance. Lance had said before that he was not interested in these things, so why was he here again?
And recently... But she also heard that Lance is very rich now!
She walked over and sat down next to Lance, "Alone?"

Lance nodded, "There's a manager named Wally, he's not here right now."

Barbara looked at Lance. "You didn't mean..."

Lance smiled mysteriously and made a gesture to keep quiet, "This is a secret!"

Barbara was a little confused about what this meant, and just when she was about to ask something, Wally walked out.

He saw Barbara at a glance and knew her, so he hurried over and said, "Mr. White is my client!"

He stated his position a little anxiously. He knew very well that these beautiful girls were more likely to be favored by male customers. Barbara glanced at him and then stood up. "Mr. White and I knew each other before. You are a lucky boy."

"Remember to buy me coffee later!"

She stood up and left, which made Wally feel relieved. He was really afraid that the distinguished guest in front of him would be seduced away by Barbara.

"I've asked my superiors. If you confirm that you want to purchase 200,000 worth of merchandise, we can arrange a meeting for you with the president."

He added, "But only for ten minutes."

Lance slapped the armrest and stood up. Wally thought he had messed up. Just as he was thinking about how to make up for it, Lance suddenly stretched out his hand, "Deal!"

"I will meet the president with the money and give it to him in person. Go and make the arrangements. Once you have made the arrangements, make the call."

"Tell him I'm very interested in the history of the Barz family, and if he can satisfy me, I can invest more!"

He picked up the coaster, wrote a number with a pen and left it for him, then shook hands with Wally while he was in a daze, and left.

Ennio was driving for Lance today. "I just heard someone say that they can give a few percent or even tens of percent every month. Is that true?"

“Isn’t this about to catch up with our loan sharking?”

Lance shook his head and said, "It's actually worse than loan sharking, if they can deliver on it."

"If you lend out 200,000 yuan for two years, you can only ask for 10,000 yuan a month, which is the limit. Otherwise, no one would take that much."

"But they dare to take whatever you give them. Do you know what this means?"

Ennio drove seriously and shook his head at the same time, "I didn't go to school much, I don't really understand this."

"It has nothing to do with how much schooling you've had, Ennio. Not having been to school doesn't mean you have to be stupid. None of us have had much schooling."

"They can take in an infinite amount of money and still pay such high interest. The only possibility is that they never intended to really make you money from the beginning."

"No legitimate financial company would dare to guarantee that its annual interest rate is above this number. How can they guarantee that their monthly profit will be above this number?"

Ennio was a little confused, "But haven't some of them already received rebates?"

This may be the reason why so many people are deceived, because they really see some people getting rebates.

"You give them 100 yuan, and they give you 15 yuan a month, which means they can at least fulfill their contract every month for half a year."

"After half a year, they have two choices: either run away with the remaining ten dollars, or more people join in."

"The former is unlikely, the latter is more likely, and you've seen so many people!"

Ennio gradually reacted, and the car even sped up for a moment. "You mean, he is using the investors' money to pay the investors' interest?"

"Oh my God……"

"They are a scam!" Then he became nervous, "Have you been fooled?"

I finally understood it, but not completely.

"I'm not here for their scam, and I didn't fall for it. I'm after the money in their pockets!"

"This money will be lost anyway, so I might as well take it and put it in my account."

"When the time comes, I will set up a foundation and use the money to help more people!"

Ennio paused and exclaimed heartfeltly, "A noble ideal!"

(End of this chapter)