Dear Friends,
Thank you very much for the interest in my book and for the number of letters I had received from you.
Also, please be advised that the full version of my book "The Kingdom of" will be exclusively posted on the site of Cambodia Business Network at:http://www.cambodiabusinessnetwork.com/ Blog of Gregory Shukhman
Read The Kingdom of- part 11 here.
Dear Readers: Please disregard from the previous chapter, “Part Eleven: ABA Bank” Fragment II, the following errors:
1) On Tuesday, April 22, 2007, I was honored to escort Leslie Schwartz. The correct sentence is: On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, I was honored to escort Leslie Schwartz.
2) During our conversation, it became clear that the bank was sold to him for $25 million. The corrected sentence will be: During our conversation, it became clear that the bank was sold to him for $24 million.
Sorry if these mistakes affected your reading.
The Kingdom of…
Part Twelve: Harry J.F. Bloomfield
Fragment I
At the first meeting Harry Bloomfield made a most indelible impression on Mr. Leslie Schwartz and me. In his early 60s, Harry was an energetic and sensitive man with a wonderful sense of humor. Certainly, Barry’s recommendation as well as the beautiful evening, played into the great atmosphere of friendship that filled the meeting.
Harry handed me a business card with his New York phone number and told me that if he should have a day’s stay in New York before flying back to Canada, he would be happy to have lunch with us. He was pleased when I agreed.
While saying goodbye to him, I suggested that if any business interests (in addition to buying the bank) were ever to arise in Cambodia, I would be prepared to share with him any business prospects I had. The very next day I wrote Bunnaroeun:
Dear Brother:
Please find the attached business card of the gentleman who is purchasing a bank offered by Mr. Ahn for $24 million. I was highly recommended Mr. Ahn who was introduced by you in the order of selling an ABA Bank. Mr. Bloomfield, whose card is also attached, was highly recommended to me by my friend Barry Tucker. I ask that you secure this project in Mr. Bloomfield’s favor.
Thank you,
Gregory
I was pleasantly surprised to receive an e-mail from Harry — he did not keep me waiting long. From the very first lines of his letter, he rapidly developed our business relationship, providing me with information on his projects, which together painted a portrait of a man of utmost efficiency and diverse capabilities, which I gladly reported to Mr. Leslie, who was responsible for introducing us to Harry, who, in the name of pursuing ethical business relationships, shared his information with Barry Tucker.
Dear Gregory,
It was good to meet with you and Barry on Tuesday. I'd like to talk with you for a few moments whenever it is convenient and discuss our mutual interests in Cambodia. I also noticed the Ukrainian flag on your card, and I have major interests there! That could be even more interesting to discuss. Please say when, and by what means, we can talk.
Best wishes,
Harry Bloomfield, Q.C.
I felt the wonderful sensation of being pursued for the sake of mutual cooperation. Unfortunately, Harry’s New York telephone was not working at that time, so I was forced to wait for him to call me. I notified him about his non-working number and he responded by asking if he could call me at around 10:30 in the morning. As promised, the phone rang right on time. I'm trying to sufficiently reproduce all of the details of that event three years ago to convey the proper picture of the man. Within business dealings, especially between friends, the smallest detail can define a person’s character. Punctuality, a quality honored by royalty, is one of the most important elements of the portrait of an ethical person.
The telephone conversation with Harry was unusually long; however, it was one of the brightest moments of our lives. I was fascinated by his knowledge of business. Harry defined his profession as “money maker.” I agreed absolutely with that assessment. His understanding of the international sector was phenomenal, and so were his activities within it. His extraordinary expertise in banking sector made me swoon.
The financial interests Bloomfield had in a number of countries were so great that he could have taught geography at their most prestigious educational institutions if he were to simply ask.
During my conversation with Bloomfield, I was told the history of his family’s nobility, which was absolutely incredible. His father and uncle built the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv and the Bloomfield Research Center in Montreal, Canada. He told me stories of his family’s invaluable contribution to the formation of the State of Israel, and of his beautiful wife and his three sons. I listened to all of this with bated breath, and deep inside I was grateful for the opportunity to know such a man. Nearing the end of our talk, I said sincerely, "Harry, I want to make a movie about you.”
After informing Bloomfield about my interest in making him the subject of a Hollywood motion picture, he replied, "I'll introduce you to my friends, Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd." He later sent me photos of his family with the two Hollywood Stars. At that moment, I was grateful to fate and to God for giving me the chance to meet such an extraordinary person.
I had no doubt about the purity and moral character of this man. And in the monolith of his honesty, I could not have been any more trusting, as our commonalities were built on the greatest ideals of faith, resting on the unwavering morality God gave to the world at Mount Sinai.
But, as they say, “Words are not deeds,” and Harry immediately e-mailed me an investment project in Kiev, Ukraine; "The Gora Project," which unfortunately had no interest in the soil of our company. But in turn, in order to save him from any future difficulties, I offered him a team that was guaranteed to examine the draft.
Harry Bloomfield asked me to provide him with some help in Cambodia. He needed me to help his friend Dr. Ahn, the President and CEO of ABA Bank, resolve some disagreements which had occurred with my friend Bunnaroeun. Of course I agreed, recalling my fraternal relations with Bunnaroeun. Bloomfield was delighted by my compliance and offered me a service fee of $25,000. I must admit I was surprised by his offer since he still had not told me exactly what was going on. Despite this, I was willing to tackle the problem and help him. Of course, his sudden generosity had evoked an even greater respect for him and I promised to call Bunnaroeun immediately.
When I finally managed to contact Bunnaroeun, I was greeted with some news that absolutely surprised me; however, I was even more shocked by Bunnaroeun, who had just learned that ABA Bank was in the final stages of a sale to a client that our company had recommended. Bunnaroeun was literally in tears as he told me about the shameful actions of Dr. David Chi Hun Ahn, who had been hiding this transaction from our company and planned to leave our company without a concerted remuneration, which, based on the sales price and our commission, was supposed to be $2.4 million.
A beast emerged from within Bunnaroeun. He only wanted revenge, screaming that everyone associated with David Ahn would be put in prison and the doctor himself would personally rot in there. Until then, he had considered Dr. Ahn a brother, and in his speech I could hear the cry of his soul and its betrayed ideals. While listening to him, I lost my ability to speak because I did not know what words could comfort him. After a brief silence, I finally took a deep breath and said, "Now, Harry Bloomfield was on the phone with me and he wants to resolve this issue, which he considers to be misunderstanding. The seller is prepared to rectify the situation and apologize. Remember that the worst peace is better than a good war.” I added, “I have the highest level of respect for Harry. He was the one who was introduced to me by Barry Tucker.” I continued, "Please understand that we are faced with enormous challenges. We have already put forth tremendous effort, but we cannot allow our plans to be slowed by wallowing in the mud of vengeance." I sensed his common sense returning and his inside “Frankenstein”-like rage beginning to subside. I asked him to give me time to fix things and warned him against taking actions that would cause irreparable harm in the future.
Of course, I still had much to learn about the situation, and I had to talk to Harry. I related everything that I had heard to Mr. Bloomfield, yet did not express my opinion about the deceit. Harry was unable to listen patiently; he was interrupting and acting as if nothing had happened. Despite this, as I understand it, he was quite concerned. He explained that the buyer, Caspian Investment Management, Ltd. of Kazakhstan, was a very fragile client. As of that very day, the money had been transferred from Latvia to New York, where the deal was supposed to have been signed. However, Merrill Lynch refused to accept the money because its origin was unclear; this transfer as of today forth through Singapore. That caused the situation to become very limited. If any negative news had arisen about the transaction, the information would have gone to the company’s representative in Cambodia, Damir Karassayev. Such information could have caused the company to withdraw from the contract at any time. If this had occurred, no one would have won. Harry had vested interest in a successful sale, so he offered me $50,000 – instead of the original value of $25,000 – to calm Bunnaroeun.
Unfortunately the situation was far more complicated than it was represented by Mr. Bloomfield. Bunnaroeun, behaved himself very poorly, if we draw a parallel, like a wounded beast and his actions were simply unpredictable. The words that I used to call his actions to be reasonable in most of the cases were met with incredulity. Although I was the only friend, who wanted him to really help, because, as his entourage in Cambodia, that I understood from his words, just wanted a revenge at the disgraceful action on the part of Dr. Ahn.
So when I called back to him, at the insistence of Mr. Bloomfield, in an attempt to convey to his mind the situation that such a delicate matter may simply be ruined, and the company's expenses with his personal debt exceeds more than $300,000 and that is my main concern to balance in the shortest time possibilities with our upcoming plans, which was the main purpose to increase the flow of investment into his country, that my actions are aimed at overcoming these problems only, and I in no event pursue personal interest. At one time his pain subsided and I was trying to make a reasonable decision and to establish realistic and affordable amount of compensation from the whole situation. The first offer from Harry was $500 thousand, although Bunnaroeun insisted on 10% of the purchase price, amounting to $2.4 million, but even the stage of discussions about compensation, it was kind of already a small victory, the triumph of reason over animal instinct that I deservedly shared with Mr. Bloomfield. As was once was said: "The time frame of civilization, can rightly be considered from the moment when toward the opponent instead of a stone was thrown obscene word."
At the end of Friday the 27 Harry wrote to me;
Dear Greg,
to remind you, my home phone number is +1-514-….
Tomorrow, Saturday, I am in the Synagogue from 10 till 1, but there is always someone here at my home to answer. I hope and pray, for all of us, that you'll be able to bring your friend onside.
Harry
I did understand that was the main goal to calm down Bunnaroeun, as Dr. Ahn, the President & CEO of ABA Bank and friend of Mr. Bloomfield was terribly scary because of the consequences of his dishonest conduct. And my task, at the insistence of Mr. Bloomfield was to ensure full security of all participants and a project as a whole to finalize a selling procedure of the bank. I wrote in response;
Dear Harry,
I've spoke to the minister Dr. An, so far no good news, but I am sure no mistakes will be done on Saturday or Sunday, as you sad "we pray" Please call me at any time, I believe we both excused for inconvenient calls, you have my cell # 917-805…
Talk to you later,
Gregory
Mr. Bloomfield, as I understood, vaguely imagined an emotional state of Bunnaroeun and as being an educated man, received his education at the civilized world, in general, simplified the situation and reduced everything to money, or more precisely to their number and in the holy Sabbath day, he wrote:
“Dear Gregory,
Good morning. It would be something of a good help if you could tell us simply why is he so upset? He made an introduction; a deal is about to be done. If it is about fees, then at least tell us, so we can try to fix it. My Dr. Ahn is working on getting the fee-level higher - but is that the solution?”
Harry
Of course, part of Mr. Bloomfield was right and in today's modern world, money is a one of the most important criteria of human existence, sometimes forgetting about the investigation of morality. But in this case with Bunnaroeun, the power of money, once again had the opposite effect, that is, to keep him in particular state from the fatal error followed by the revenge as the triumph of morality to battle over dishonor, some expression accompanies the story of our humanity: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions, "
And I was grateful to Harry that he and the seller were willing to include money, as the main tool to draw Bunnaroeun in the state to negotiate.
Part Twelve: Harry J.F. Bloomfield
Fragment II
To be continued:
Also, please be advised that the full version of my book "The Kingdom of" will be exclusively posted on the site of Cambodia Business Network at:http://www.
Read The Kingdom of- part 11 here.
Dear Readers: Please disregard from the previous chapter, “Part Eleven: ABA Bank” Fragment II, the following errors:
1) On Tuesday, April 22, 2007, I was honored to escort Leslie Schwartz. The correct sentence is: On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, I was honored to escort Leslie Schwartz.
2) During our conversation, it became clear that the bank was sold to him for $25 million. The corrected sentence will be: During our conversation, it became clear that the bank was sold to him for $24 million.
Sorry if these mistakes affected your reading.
The Kingdom of…
Part Twelve: Harry J.F. Bloomfield
Fragment I
At the first meeting Harry Bloomfield made a most indelible impression on Mr. Leslie Schwartz and me. In his early 60s, Harry was an energetic and sensitive man with a wonderful sense of humor. Certainly, Barry’s recommendation as well as the beautiful evening, played into the great atmosphere of friendship that filled the meeting.
Harry handed me a business card with his New York phone number and told me that if he should have a day’s stay in New York before flying back to Canada, he would be happy to have lunch with us. He was pleased when I agreed.
While saying goodbye to him, I suggested that if any business interests (in addition to buying the bank) were ever to arise in Cambodia, I would be prepared to share with him any business prospects I had. The very next day I wrote Bunnaroeun:
Dear Brother:
Please find the attached business card of the gentleman who is purchasing a bank offered by Mr. Ahn for $24 million. I was highly recommended Mr. Ahn who was introduced by you in the order of selling an ABA Bank. Mr. Bloomfield, whose card is also attached, was highly recommended to me by my friend Barry Tucker. I ask that you secure this project in Mr. Bloomfield’s favor.
Thank you,
Gregory
I was pleasantly surprised to receive an e-mail from Harry — he did not keep me waiting long. From the very first lines of his letter, he rapidly developed our business relationship, providing me with information on his projects, which together painted a portrait of a man of utmost efficiency and diverse capabilities, which I gladly reported to Mr. Leslie, who was responsible for introducing us to Harry, who, in the name of pursuing ethical business relationships, shared his information with Barry Tucker.
Dear Gregory,
It was good to meet with you and Barry on Tuesday. I'd like to talk with you for a few moments whenever it is convenient and discuss our mutual interests in Cambodia. I also noticed the Ukrainian flag on your card, and I have major interests there! That could be even more interesting to discuss. Please say when, and by what means, we can talk.
Best wishes,
Harry Bloomfield, Q.C.
I felt the wonderful sensation of being pursued for the sake of mutual cooperation. Unfortunately, Harry’s New York telephone was not working at that time, so I was forced to wait for him to call me. I notified him about his non-working number and he responded by asking if he could call me at around 10:30 in the morning. As promised, the phone rang right on time. I'm trying to sufficiently reproduce all of the details of that event three years ago to convey the proper picture of the man. Within business dealings, especially between friends, the smallest detail can define a person’s character. Punctuality, a quality honored by royalty, is one of the most important elements of the portrait of an ethical person.
The telephone conversation with Harry was unusually long; however, it was one of the brightest moments of our lives. I was fascinated by his knowledge of business. Harry defined his profession as “money maker.” I agreed absolutely with that assessment. His understanding of the international sector was phenomenal, and so were his activities within it. His extraordinary expertise in banking sector made me swoon.
The financial interests Bloomfield had in a number of countries were so great that he could have taught geography at their most prestigious educational institutions if he were to simply ask.
During my conversation with Bloomfield, I was told the history of his family’s nobility, which was absolutely incredible. His father and uncle built the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv and the Bloomfield Research Center in Montreal, Canada. He told me stories of his family’s invaluable contribution to the formation of the State of Israel, and of his beautiful wife and his three sons. I listened to all of this with bated breath, and deep inside I was grateful for the opportunity to know such a man. Nearing the end of our talk, I said sincerely, "Harry, I want to make a movie about you.”
After informing Bloomfield about my interest in making him the subject of a Hollywood motion picture, he replied, "I'll introduce you to my friends, Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd." He later sent me photos of his family with the two Hollywood Stars. At that moment, I was grateful to fate and to God for giving me the chance to meet such an extraordinary person.
I had no doubt about the purity and moral character of this man. And in the monolith of his honesty, I could not have been any more trusting, as our commonalities were built on the greatest ideals of faith, resting on the unwavering morality God gave to the world at Mount Sinai.
But, as they say, “Words are not deeds,” and Harry immediately e-mailed me an investment project in Kiev, Ukraine; "The Gora Project," which unfortunately had no interest in the soil of our company. But in turn, in order to save him from any future difficulties, I offered him a team that was guaranteed to examine the draft.
Harry Bloomfield asked me to provide him with some help in Cambodia. He needed me to help his friend Dr. Ahn, the President and CEO of ABA Bank, resolve some disagreements which had occurred with my friend Bunnaroeun. Of course I agreed, recalling my fraternal relations with Bunnaroeun. Bloomfield was delighted by my compliance and offered me a service fee of $25,000. I must admit I was surprised by his offer since he still had not told me exactly what was going on. Despite this, I was willing to tackle the problem and help him. Of course, his sudden generosity had evoked an even greater respect for him and I promised to call Bunnaroeun immediately.
When I finally managed to contact Bunnaroeun, I was greeted with some news that absolutely surprised me; however, I was even more shocked by Bunnaroeun, who had just learned that ABA Bank was in the final stages of a sale to a client that our company had recommended. Bunnaroeun was literally in tears as he told me about the shameful actions of Dr. David Chi Hun Ahn, who had been hiding this transaction from our company and planned to leave our company without a concerted remuneration, which, based on the sales price and our commission, was supposed to be $2.4 million.
A beast emerged from within Bunnaroeun. He only wanted revenge, screaming that everyone associated with David Ahn would be put in prison and the doctor himself would personally rot in there. Until then, he had considered Dr. Ahn a brother, and in his speech I could hear the cry of his soul and its betrayed ideals. While listening to him, I lost my ability to speak because I did not know what words could comfort him. After a brief silence, I finally took a deep breath and said, "Now, Harry Bloomfield was on the phone with me and he wants to resolve this issue, which he considers to be misunderstanding. The seller is prepared to rectify the situation and apologize. Remember that the worst peace is better than a good war.” I added, “I have the highest level of respect for Harry. He was the one who was introduced to me by Barry Tucker.” I continued, "Please understand that we are faced with enormous challenges. We have already put forth tremendous effort, but we cannot allow our plans to be slowed by wallowing in the mud of vengeance." I sensed his common sense returning and his inside “Frankenstein”-like rage beginning to subside. I asked him to give me time to fix things and warned him against taking actions that would cause irreparable harm in the future.
Of course, I still had much to learn about the situation, and I had to talk to Harry. I related everything that I had heard to Mr. Bloomfield, yet did not express my opinion about the deceit. Harry was unable to listen patiently; he was interrupting and acting as if nothing had happened. Despite this, as I understand it, he was quite concerned. He explained that the buyer, Caspian Investment Management, Ltd. of Kazakhstan, was a very fragile client. As of that very day, the money had been transferred from Latvia to New York, where the deal was supposed to have been signed. However, Merrill Lynch refused to accept the money because its origin was unclear; this transfer as of today forth through Singapore. That caused the situation to become very limited. If any negative news had arisen about the transaction, the information would have gone to the company’s representative in Cambodia, Damir Karassayev. Such information could have caused the company to withdraw from the contract at any time. If this had occurred, no one would have won. Harry had vested interest in a successful sale, so he offered me $50,000 – instead of the original value of $25,000 – to calm Bunnaroeun.
Unfortunately the situation was far more complicated than it was represented by Mr. Bloomfield. Bunnaroeun, behaved himself very poorly, if we draw a parallel, like a wounded beast and his actions were simply unpredictable. The words that I used to call his actions to be reasonable in most of the cases were met with incredulity. Although I was the only friend, who wanted him to really help, because, as his entourage in Cambodia, that I understood from his words, just wanted a revenge at the disgraceful action on the part of Dr. Ahn.
So when I called back to him, at the insistence of Mr. Bloomfield, in an attempt to convey to his mind the situation that such a delicate matter may simply be ruined, and the company's expenses with his personal debt exceeds more than $300,000 and that is my main concern to balance in the shortest time possibilities with our upcoming plans, which was the main purpose to increase the flow of investment into his country, that my actions are aimed at overcoming these problems only, and I in no event pursue personal interest. At one time his pain subsided and I was trying to make a reasonable decision and to establish realistic and affordable amount of compensation from the whole situation. The first offer from Harry was $500 thousand, although Bunnaroeun insisted on 10% of the purchase price, amounting to $2.4 million, but even the stage of discussions about compensation, it was kind of already a small victory, the triumph of reason over animal instinct that I deservedly shared with Mr. Bloomfield. As was once was said: "The time frame of civilization, can rightly be considered from the moment when toward the opponent instead of a stone was thrown obscene word."
At the end of Friday the 27 Harry wrote to me;
Dear Greg,
to remind you, my home phone number is +1-514-….
Tomorrow, Saturday, I am in the Synagogue from 10 till 1, but there is always someone here at my home to answer. I hope and pray, for all of us, that you'll be able to bring your friend onside.
Harry
I did understand that was the main goal to calm down Bunnaroeun, as Dr. Ahn, the President & CEO of ABA Bank and friend of Mr. Bloomfield was terribly scary because of the consequences of his dishonest conduct. And my task, at the insistence of Mr. Bloomfield was to ensure full security of all participants and a project as a whole to finalize a selling procedure of the bank. I wrote in response;
Dear Harry,
I've spoke to the minister Dr. An, so far no good news, but I am sure no mistakes will be done on Saturday or Sunday, as you sad "we pray" Please call me at any time, I believe we both excused for inconvenient calls, you have my cell # 917-805…
Talk to you later,
Gregory
Mr. Bloomfield, as I understood, vaguely imagined an emotional state of Bunnaroeun and as being an educated man, received his education at the civilized world, in general, simplified the situation and reduced everything to money, or more precisely to their number and in the holy Sabbath day, he wrote:
“Dear Gregory,
Good morning. It would be something of a good help if you could tell us simply why is he so upset? He made an introduction; a deal is about to be done. If it is about fees, then at least tell us, so we can try to fix it. My Dr. Ahn is working on getting the fee-level higher - but is that the solution?”
Harry
Of course, part of Mr. Bloomfield was right and in today's modern world, money is a one of the most important criteria of human existence, sometimes forgetting about the investigation of morality. But in this case with Bunnaroeun, the power of money, once again had the opposite effect, that is, to keep him in particular state from the fatal error followed by the revenge as the triumph of morality to battle over dishonor, some expression accompanies the story of our humanity: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions, "
And I was grateful to Harry that he and the seller were willing to include money, as the main tool to draw Bunnaroeun in the state to negotiate.
Part Twelve: Harry J.F. Bloomfield
Fragment II
To be continued:
1 comment:
That's Great,
Thank you.
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