Smoked Salmon

The trade order was about to be filled and the tension in the room was palpable. George had planned this trade for the past year with his investing partner James. Together George and James had grown a combined $1,857 into $3 million over a two year period and now 99% of that growth was at stake. This created tension, James had moved to the conference room and now they were talking via Zoom to help decrease the pressure they were feeling. This was a far cry from serving an uncooked fish or steak in their restaurant.

The two were not in their offices, they rented this space for the last month to confirm the information and the trade. James felt the trade being set up would lead to the failure of a large local company, the results would be clear. There are few times traders would risk 2 years of work and their relationships, let alone 99% of their capital. This trade was a Trading Places type of move and once completed the team would need to leave the Santiago, Chile area quickly.

Vanessa was added to the Zoom call with George and James, she was at work elsewhere in Chile reading the days takes on Salmon production and levels. The past year had been the most turbulent she could remember and the pain had caused severe damage to her boss and company. This was the reason she was on the call and the reason she had developed a friendship with the two traders over the last year. While she could not publicly benefit from the trade she could benefit in a deal with the traders she provided the inside information.

All parties involved could land in jail which was the reason for the change of location to make the trade. Having the trade done in Chile would help shield the traders partly with the fake IP address and trading account and also help shield Vanessa as the insider, her calls to the states could be justified for sales.

George and James had been restaurant owners in Texas and purchased salmon, sea bass, shrimp, and other sea food products directly from Pesca SA based out of Chile. Vanessa was their contact, and the person they contacted over three years ago after noticing the change in quality of the products. Product would spoil quicker, have a metallic taste, and changed colors. There was a reason and it was not natural and all parties knew.

James was slow to provide her with the full scope of the idea but since she was seeing first-hand the actions of her employer Vanessa was ready to help all those who purchased Pesca SA products as well as the environment. While fish farming was legal, as with all agricultural activities there were requirements for every aspect of the process. Pesca SA operated remote locations, nearly hidden locations, all of these safety protocols were being side stepped. This was the cause of the decline in quality of the products sold to the public, the complaints, and deaths that had been reported.  The three were ready to stop this and if possible destroy the family company.

Vanessa was spending the day with CEO and owner of Pesca SA, Javier Rivales and his two daughters. The objective for the day was to concentrate efforts on cleaning the mistakes of the past as Javier called them, many of which were still happening. Three weeks earlier Vanessa had been at the Chile and Argentine border town of Patagonia to visit the farms and there she had seen the destruction of the lake, products, trees, and waters. While this would come out there was a way to mitigate the damage and knowledge of the events and practices.

The main objective was receiving the approval from the Chilean government to build the Pesca Hotel and Resort project. The fight was with environmentalist who did not want such pristine land destroyed or the natural fishing stocks destroyed for sport. Conversely the Rivales goal was to destroy the evidence of their treatment of the natural resources entrusted to them through family history and wealth. In came James, George, and Vanessa.

Pesca SA was a publicly traded company which allowed it to be destroyed quickly with real bad news or events and this was part of the plan.

On her trip to Patagonia Vanessa had documented the damage being done to the area for her employer and also for herself and this project. With his information sent digitally to James via an encrypted chat app, the download and presentation for the public had begun. Now 3 weeks later and 3 years after the initial contact for this project, the team was ready to strike. The file had just been sent to leading papers, websites, and television stations for broadcast and public dissemination.

While James sent the files out, George was completing the trade that would destroy Pesca when combined with the information about to go public. Vanessa had James add Javier to the list of people who would receive the information packet, she felt it was fair and also wanted to time the release with her resignation.

Vanessa had warned Javier from the first complaint, James and George were not the only ones but the most consistent and loudest. Javier told her that he did not concern himself with such matters, that the earth would recover in time and that they needed to do what was necessary to help the family. From the time she took the job for the Rivales family she knew the history, the violence, power, and money that had been developed from years of family needs. She was shocked to learn how fragile the entire operation was, how opposite from reality the family lived.

When James reached out and further explained the details of the plan she knew they could destroy the company, and hopefully the family. This eased the tension between Vanessa, James, and George and created a new friendship, a new path to success for each of them if done properly. Now that the time had arrived, she was determined to be the first person to break the news to the Javier, show him the devastation he had brought upon the company and his family.