FOE Family First Chapter 33 Verifying Understanding
Melonie watched as Tommy Hawke took out a Massachusetts travel map from the bedroom, spread it out on the dining table, and pointed to an island very close to Rhode Island:
"This is Martha's Vineyard, which is located in Dukes County, Massachusetts. Even if you haven't been there, you should have heard of it."
"It's called a black... a resort exclusively for black people." Melonie nodded, but ultimately did not say the word that was not very friendly to black people.
Martha's Vineyard is an island belonging to Massachusetts. It has become a popular tourist destination since the 1960s. However, most of the people who travel there for vacation or even settle there are black people. In addition, wealthy and educated black people, and even foreign black people who come to the United States for sightseeing, are also accustomed visiting Martha's Vineyard.
Some white people have a malicious understanding of the fact that black people love to go to Martha's Vineyard for vacation. They think that before black ancestors officially set foot on the American mainland, they had to go to Vineyard Island, be stripped naked, washed, have their teeth checked like animals, be numbered and then auctioned off all over the country. Today, these later black people like to come to Vineyard Island, but they don't take a shower here and can't find the feeling of being a black person in America.
The black people say just the opposite. After the anti-discrimination movement in the 1960s, they continued to come to the Vineyard for vacation and even settled there to comfort their ancestors. They have changed from being American slaves in the past to being American masters today.
Tommy Hawke didn't hesitate to address the question. He immediately gave the standard name: "Yes, it's the exclusive resort for niggers. It's very convenient to get there. You can buy a cheap ticket from Providence Airport and land on the island in 30 minutes."
"Do you think black people can help you avoid taxes?" Melanie looked at Tommy Hawke with some confusion.
"It has nothing to do with black people. There is an Indian reservation on the island, the Wampanoag reservation in Aquinnah, the southernmost part of the island. It covers a total area of about 500 acres. There are casinos and resorts there. Every holiday, people from big cities like Boston and Worcester go there to have fun. Our money goes through the casinos on the Indian reservation and is eventually used to pay taxes. It turns cash that cannot be seen by others into a checkbook that can be taken out generously."
The history of American Indians is of course bloody and tragic, and the same is true of the Wampanoag tribe. When the colonists landed, the people of this tribe kindly taught the colonists how to hunt whales, helped the colonists choose settlements and build houses. But then the colonists declared that the entire island belonged to God and them, and the Wampanoag tribe was asked to leave the island and move to the remote western wilderness to fend for themselves. The Indians who had lived here for generations decided to fight bravely, but ended up miserably. The tribe of more than 8,000 people was killed and only more than 3,000 people were left. If it were not for the colonists and missionaries to dissuade them, the entire tribe would have been completely wiped out that year.
It was not until 1924 that the Wampanoag tribe, which had been kept in captivity near western California, officially gained American citizenship. It was not until 1963, after even black people had gained social status, that the U.S. government officially recognized the tribe. It was not until 1972 that the U.S. federal government and the Massachusetts government approved the tribe's request to return to Vineyard Island and establish a reservation.
However, it was just a fantasy of the Wampanoag people to turn the entire 200-kilometer Vineyard Island into a reservation. In the end, the US government only approved 500 acres of land on the island, on the grounds that the Wampanoag tribe, which had nearly 10,000 people at the time, was now less than 100 people, and 500 acres of land was enough for them to live on.
Most of the Wampanoag Indians were illiterate and had no idea what reservation privileges were. They just knew that owning a reservation allowed them to open casinos, bars and other leisure and vacation venues to attract customers and make money. In order to develop their vacation business, they often chose to cooperate with white people to operate entertainment venues.
Paying taxes on the reservation was a classic example of money laundering that Hawke had learned in business school in his previous life. Legal money laundering appeared in reservation casinos in 1977, but it was not until 1994 that the U.S. tax department discovered this money laundering loophole that only existed in Indian reservation casinos.
The process looks no different than going to any other professional casino and running a failed money laundering operation.
"The process is very simple. It can be completed by two people. One person takes the cash to be laundered to the casino in the reservation and obtains two personal income declaration forms issued by the tax department. One form is used to record winnings and the other is used to record losses. However, after receiving the forms, do not record the actual winnings and losses. Instead, exchange the cash in your hand for chips. Wait for the other person to come to the casino and obtain the forms. The second person then compares the first person's form and fills it out with the opposite numbers. Then, the first person's chips are handed over to the second person." Tommy Hawke explained to Melonie seriously:
"It looks like the chips of the first person were legally won by the second person in the casino, and the second person submitted a winnings declaration form normally. The tax department can deduct taxes based on the second person's winnings, or simply let the casino withhold taxes on his behalf. As long as the tax is paid, you can deposit the money in the bank openly, and that is your clean money that you won legally."
Melonie looked at Tommy suspiciously. "So easy?"
"No, this is just the first step. If this method is used in professional casinos like Las Vegas, the US tax department can easily see through it, because no casino will bear the pressure of the tax department for gamblers. As long as the casino obediently hands over its normal business data, the tax department can immediately find out clearly whether the gambler is here to gamble or to launder money by comparing the three-party data. Compared with gamblers, the data provided by the casino to the tax department is much more detailed, including which gambling table, who the dealer is, the gambling table number, the chip number and other data. In other words, without the full cooperation of the casino to help you modify the casino's cumbersome record data, it is impossible for gamblers to use American professional casinos to complete money laundering and escape the pursuit of the tax department." Tommy Hawke shook his head, picked up the coffee and took a sip, staring at the small island on the map, and said fluently:
"But reservation casinos are different from professional casinos like those in Las Vegas. First of all, most of the bet amounts are capped. The U.S. government doesn't want every Native American to become a billionaire casino tycoon, so the customers of reservation casinos are usually ordinary Americans who go to nearby reservation casinos when they want to play a few hands on the weekend. This also makes these reservation casinos very inconspicuous compared to the large casinos."
"Secondly, although Native Americans have U.S. citizenship, they have a separate agency to manage them, the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This agency has been established for more than a hundred years and has hardly changed. In short, all affairs of Indian reservations are handled by this department, including casinos and financial accounts. In order to show leniency towards Indians, the managers of this agency are almost all heads of Indian tribes."
"If the tax department wants to check the data of a reservation casino to determine whether someone is laundering money, the procedure is to first contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which controls the financial accounts of all reservation casinos. This bureau is controlled by Indian chiefs and their children who are highly educated and close to white people. The casinos are also opened by them in cooperation with white people. Most of the money earned by the casinos is divided up by savvy white partners, and the chiefs don't really pocket much."
"In order to make money, the Indian chiefs have come up with a money laundering service. If you want to launder a small amount of cash, you only need to donate a sum of money to the Indian Tribal Culture Protection Fundraising Office set up in each reservation casino as a handling fee. Then the chief can ask the Indian Affairs Bureau to provide the tax department with the declaration form data provided by the gambler or directly withhold taxes, ensuring that the data submitted by the casino and the two gamblers to the tax department are exactly the same, so that all three parties are consistent."
"Only then did our money become completely legal income. And that donation, although nominally donated to the Wampanoag tribe, was actually still controlled by the chief. It was equivalent to the chief's cash bag. We got clean money, the chief got the donation, and everyone was happy." Tommy Hawke finished explaining his money laundering and tax payment methods in one breath, then he let out a breath and stopped.
The U.S. tax department discovered this loophole more than a decade later. Firstly, the amount involved was too small to attract attention. After all, at that time, major casinos in Las Vegas and Hollywood film companies were busy providing the mafia or corrupt politicians with a variety of large-scale money laundering methods. The amount of any one case was almost comparable to the annual turnover of a reservation casino. Secondly, the tax department probably never realized that after being polluted by the white people, the simple Indians would become so greedy and ugly.
Noticing that Melonie didn't respond, Tommy withdrew his gaze from the map and looked up at Melonie opposite him. He found that she was staring at him with a dull expression.
"Did I say it too vaguely? Did you not hear it clearly?" Tommy asked Melonie tentatively, "Melonie, are you listening?"
Melonie nodded slowly with a complicated look in her eyes: "Of course, of course I'm listening."
"I can't step into the casino right now. I need you to find out the situation." Tommy Hawke smiled after getting the other party's reply. "You can go to the casino for a vacation and show some favor to the Indian tribe in advance. Find out how much donations they need to help us withhold taxes. If it can be achieved, this is the most convenient way. Otherwise, we can only choose Plan B, which is less confidential and less convenient, and the handling fee is higher."
Melonie was silent for a long time. She now probably understood the effort behind Tommy's words "I just want to be absolutely sure". This guy has thought about everything very clearly and it sounds like he even has a plan B.
Whether it is himself or Tony, it seems that they only need to be like assembly line workers and complete their tasks according to their established plans.
Thinking about it, she couldn't help but ask Tommy out of curiosity:
"Did Penthouse magazine and comic books teach you that? Those are probably the only two categories of your books I haven't read."
"If you want to read it, I can find it from under the bed and lend it to you." Tommy said with a smile: "As for what you learn, it depends on your personal understanding ability."
Melonie sighed, "I've been to college, why am I acting like an idiot in front of a high school student like you?"
After she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards her bedroom. After taking a few steps, she turned and walked to Tommy who was packing up the maps, and spoke in the indifferent tone of an elder:
"Give me the magazines and comic books. I want to verify my comprehension."
