Page 173 - The Circle of Life

immediately lose the government contracts that your new company holds and in

fact is the only value in it because you are white. That is why we do due
diligence investigations which got nothing to with crime.

Of course the new African partner will tell you that he puts “influence” in the
kitty and you the money. He may even be important enough to put his influence

to good effect in the short term but in the long run it is rubbish and nothing but
a scam. Money buys the whisky and you know what walks. We saw that his

“influence” can lead to you facing corruption charges and all your accounts
frozen and your good name contaminated.

Please don’t fall for such nonsense. Especially if he is a very well-known name

for my question is how will you obtain Justice against a legend if something goes
wrong? Such people are nice to know but the very worst business partners in the

world. I had many clients who burned their fingers. Be warned that some
families are so powerful that they are beyond if not above the law in practical

terms. You know the saying. The first generation created the fame and the ones
following breaks it down. There is a bit of truth in it.

I say again your local partner must be willing to put cash into an account which
both of you control if not you alone which is the best. Many Africans have more

than enough money to pay their fair share and do so regularly. They are also
fed-up with the unscrupulous ones who are causing them a lot of anguish.

A variation used in this scam is called kite-flying. You are shown an account,

quite genuine, which reflects credit from another account which is overdrawn to
make this one looks good. Thus we always insist to analyse the historical traits

and so should you. It is always possible to do certain months better than others
but showing you one artificially enlarged account is not the true picture.

Change of management

Some businesses which are for sale is only successful because of the current
owner and when you buy it your business drops to nothing which is unacceptable

for you. Thus it is standard to have a clause in the contract dealing with
continuality. This means the previous owner must guarantee business income

and a certain part of his money kept back (with your lawyers) to be paid or not

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