“It was a construction loan that was rolled into a five-year loan with a fixed interest rate. But Katz paid the whole thing off about six months after the restaurant opened.”
“How did he do that?” asked Decker.
Tinsdale studied the screens once more. “It’s not entirely clear, but it seems like he raised some private money from investors and used that to pay off the loan completely.”
“And did he take out any more loans with the bank?”
“There were two lines of credit for a million each that he took out around the same time. He fully drew down on both and then paid them off. Then he bought an old factory building for about three million with an eye to turning it into retail and living space. He took out a loan for that too. It was finished after he died.”
“Is the loan still outstanding on that one?”
Tinsdale moved through some more screens. “No. Katz paid that one off too.”
“When?”
“Let me see. It says here it was paid in full one year after he took it out.”
“But you said the building was finishedafterhe died,” said Decker.
“That’s right. They were only about halfway done when he was killed.” Tinsdale shrugged. “Apparently he had another round of investment money come in and they took the loan out.”
“And did Don Richards work on all these deals?”
“That’s right. He was sort of Katz’s go-to person.”
“Has Rachel Katz applied for any loans from the bank?”
“No. She doesn’t even have a personal account with us. I think she has some deep pockets behind her. Doesn’t need a commercial lending source anymore. She seems to be rolling in money right now.”
“Nice job if you can get it,” said Lancaster dryly.
***
Outside, Decker looked to the sky.“We were led to believe that the only deal Katz and Richards worked on was for the American Grill. But that wasn’t the case. There were the lines of credit and the old factory building.”
“Okay, but what did we get out of all that except that some people have all the friggin’ luck,andall the money?” asked Lancaster.
“When somebody keeps paying off big loans unusually early because they got ‘investment money’ rolling in from shell companies, it tells me one thing.” He looked at his partner.
Lancaster nodded. “David Katz was cleaning money.”
“Exactly. And I wonder if Rachel Katz took over thelaundrybusiness when he died.”