Indonesian Gold (39 page)

‘There were times when I would have agreed,' Kremenchug
winked at Sharon.

‘Seems you've made history today, as well,' Fielding
acknowledged Sharon's appointment as the company's new Operations Manager and Chief Geologist for
Indonesian exploration. As President, Fielding had also cast his vote in favor of the Filipino
geologist, influenced not only by her startling beauty, but also by her impressive curriculum
vitae – and Kremenchug's inference that BGC's new, majority shareholder, Dominion Mining would
have it no other way.

‘When could we expect to see a mine?' the journalist
wished to know.

‘We are going to mobilize again, early in the New Year,'
Fielding answered. ‘The next phase will be to conduct a much wider survey and drilling program,
before we can start digging huge holes in the ground.'

‘You were appointed to carry out the initial drilling
program?' the journalist directed this towards Sharon. ‘Didn't you find it rather primitive out
there?'

‘Yes,' bemused by his attitude, ‘to both questions.' She
smiled widely, captivating her male audience. ‘I'm sorry, Miss Ducay,' the journalist persisted,
‘but I tried to do a historical check for the article I am writing on Canadian miners in
Indonesia. I couldn't find anything about you. How was it that you were first engaged by Dominion
Mining?'

Her smile underwent a slow and total eclipse, disappearing
as she pointedly raised her head and looked directly in the man's eyes, ‘If you check Anglovest
Reef Mines in Johannesburg and the Philippines Ministry, you will discover that not only did I
work in the field for a number of years, but was also actively engaged in advising the Filipino
government with respect to natural resources in my country.'

‘Sorry, Miss Ducay,' the journalist wasn't taking notes,
‘may I call you Sharon?'

She smiled again. ‘Of course.'

‘Thanks. Well, Sharon, Scott Walters tells me that this
area BGC has acquired looks very promising. Are you in a position to tell me why?'

Sharon
was well prepared. ‘Why
don't we set up something before I leave?' This was accompanied by the demurest of smiles.
‘Obviously, the drilling results demonstrate that the Longdamai site is potentially one of the
major gold finds in Indonesia. But I can fill you in on some of the history, later.'

‘That's a great idea,' Kremenchug stepped in. ‘Besides,
now's not really the time to discuss the serious side of business.' He gestured to the secretary
relegated to pouring drinks.

‘That's fine by me,' the journalist held his glass as it
was replenished, ‘I'll give you a call tomorrow.'

****

With the function over, Kremenchug heaved a sigh of
relief.

‘You handled that media guy well,' he
complimented.

‘Had plenty of practice,' Sharon said.

‘With the Press?'

‘No, with men,' she laughed, tossing the hair off her
shoulders.

Kremenchug
, suddenly wistful,
was embarrassed that she caught him staring.

‘Something wrong?' she asked, with a deliberate tilt of
the head.

‘No,' Kremenchug replied, with a touch of genuine sadness,
‘it's just something that crossed my mind, that's all.'

Sharon
recognized the look,
inwardly pleased that she had this effect on men.

‘How is your wife?' she asked, bringing Kremenchug back
into line.

He shrugged. ‘No change on that front.' And then, ‘Will
you have time for dinner before flying out on Sunday?'

‘I'm leaving tomorrow, instead,' she disclosed.

‘Why so soon?'

‘I want to visit the General again before returning to the
field and I think it wise to avoid the inquisitive Press.'

‘You can still do that.'

‘No point in remaining here, Alex; there's plenty still to
do before drilling recommences.' She looked up into his face, knowingly. ‘Once we've achieved
what we set out to do, who knows what the future might bring?' the deliberate suggestion enough
to carry Kremenchug forward.

‘When will you arrive back in Samarinda?'

‘On schedule,' she promised, her mind already
elsewhere.

‘Would you want me to come over and visit the site
sometime?'

Sharon
, caught off guard,
showed her surprise. ‘Why?' There was nothing that he could contribute and a great deal that he
might disrupt.

‘Thought it might be an idea, that's all,' he moved
forward to light Sharon's cigarette. ‘It'll be tougher, this time around.'

Sharon
raised her chin,
sending a thin stream of smoke upwards, towards the airconditioning vent. ‘I know,' she said,
accepting that the operations would come under close scrutiny. ‘That's why it's best that
you
don't visit the site.'

****

Road Town
-Tortola
British Virgin Islands

True to her word, Sharon did depart Vancouver the
following morning – but her destination was not the Philippines. Instead, she flew to Los Angeles
and purchased a ticket for Puerto Rico to complete the next phase in her grand scheme. Once in
Puerto Rico, Sharon purchased another round ticket, this time for a thirty-minute flight over the
Caribbean Sea, to Beef Island Airport, which adjoins the British Virgin Island of Tortola. A
short taxi journey took her to the capital, Road Town and the Village Cay Marina Hotel, where her
booking had been arranged through the offices of the locally based law firm, Rankin, Daworth
& Double. She went directly to her suite and phoned Charles Daworth confirming her
appointment, showered, changed into a cotton trouser suit, then visited the lawyer's
offices.

****

‘Welcome to Road Town, Miss Ducay – we meet at last!'
Sharon had established Dominion Mining Inc through these offices, the arrangements put into place
via written instructions. For a fee, Charles Daworth acted as the single nominee director for her
company; Sharon therefore permitted to disguise her beneficial interest and control over the
entity. He squeezed her hand perfunctorily, and waited for her to settle on the sofa before
offering tea. ‘I trust you had a pleasant flight?'

Sharon
flashed a smile at the
balding, middle-aged lawyer. ‘Thank you, yes.' She glanced, deliberately, at her wrist, opened
her briefcase and surrendered her passport for verification. ‘Will you be able to complete the
documentation we discussed, today?'

Daworth opened the passport, checked the photograph, and
then buzzed his secretary. ‘The formalities are really quite simple, Miss Ducay. In fact, we
could have completed these by fax and phone.' He handed Sharon's passport to the woman who had
knocked and entered. ‘My secretary will photocopy your passport, and I will need to ask you to
sign these forms and declarations.' Daworth indicated the file on his desk. ‘I just need to go
over a few points to ensure that establishing the Trust is, in fact, what best suits your needs,
Miss Ducay.'

Now that Dominion Mining Inc had secured a substantial
interest in the Canadian listed company, Borneo Gold Corporation, Sharon required to establish
yet another firewall which would enable her to receive and transfer funds in her own right, under
the protection of British Virgin Island law. To accomplish this, Daworth had advised she
establish a Trust and Sharon had decided to visit and meet with her legal representatives, as a
measure of comfort to herself. After all, she planned on placing her financial future in their
hands, and needed reassurance that this firm had the credentials required for her
purpose.

‘I will run over the basics with you again, if you don't
mind?' Daworth opened the file and commenced explaining what was involved. Sharon nodded. ‘Our
firm has already prepared the Trust deed following your instructions. Rankin, Daworth &
Double will act as the Trustee which, as I pointed out when you called last week, creates a
separation of legal and beneficial ownership. Is this quite clear, my dear?'

‘Yes, this is clear. And the Trust would be recognized in
other jurisdictions?'

‘Most certainly; all common law jurisdictions such as the
United Kingdom, Canada and the United States recognize the legal concept of a Trust.'

‘Will I have absolute privacy protection, a guarantee that
third parties will not be able to determine that I am the beneficiary?'

‘Of course!' Daworth paused when his secretary returned
with Sharon's passport. He nodded at the woman, then continued once she had left the room. ‘The
Trust is a private agreement and is not publicly filed unless you personally request that this be
done. Otherwise, details of beneficial ownership would never be publicly disclosed or made
available. In the eyes of the public, we, as Trustees, would be the legal owners of the assets in
the Trust and your interest would not be disclosed.'

‘Well, Mister Daworth, what would happen if, for example…'
she hesitated, not wishing to alarm the man, ‘…if my government decided to investigate my
holdings and discovered, somehow, that I was the beneficiary?'

Daworth shook his head emphatically. ‘The Trust will
shield your assets from future political risk including government sequestration, confiscation
orders from foreign governments and protection from future creditors. Believe me, Miss Ducay,
your interests will be totally secure – safeguarded by BVI law.'

‘What about tax implications?' she wanted to
know.

‘You would be exempted from all local taxes.'

‘Then,' Sharon rose, ‘you have addressed my concerns,
Mister Daworth, thank you.'

‘Wonderful, my dear,' the lawyer beamed. ‘Shall we
finalize the documents now?'

Within a few minutes, Sharon had added her signature to
the deeds and was on her way back to her hotel, filled with exhilaration at having completed the
second phase of her complicated plan. She spent the rest of the day and night in quiet seclusion,
not tempted by the sounds of calypso and
reggae
drifting up to her balcony. She departed
early the following morning, retracing her steps back to Los Angeles, where she caught Malaysian
Airlines to Taipei, then Eva Air to Manila. Reunited with her beloved uncle, General Narciso
Dominguez, Sharon Ducay prepared for her return to Longdamai, and her appointment with destiny in
the Kalimantan goldfields.

****

Jakarta
– Indonesia's Ministry of Mines

‘The Indonesian Government has absolute ownership of
all gold recovered. Of that there is no doubt.What is required, however, is to enact some
legislation which leaves the door open for further negotiation, in the event any of these
deposits prove to be as lucrative as the reports suggest.'
The
speaker reached over, insolently, and tapped the document on the Minster's glass-topped,
polished-teak desk
. ‘Bapak is not happy,'
he added, leaving the threat of his father's
intervention hanging in the air. This was how Suharto's offspring spread their father's goodwill
throughout the emerging, economic powerhouse.

The Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources had heard
this all before. The President's son had been positioning the Palace so that they could simply
manipulate for control over the foreign investors' concessions, which had been guaranteed by
Ministerial Decree.

‘There will be a mass exodus if we change the profit
sharing arrangements,'
he warned.

‘They'll come back,'
this, with the arrogance of not only youth, but the knowledge that none present would
hold their jobs five minutes longer than it would take him to lodge a complaint with his
father.

‘It will flow to other sectors,'
the bureaucrat warned, recalling when the state-owned oil and gas company,
Pertamina, under General Ibnu Sutowo had arbitrarily changed the profit sharing arrangements with
all foreign contracts back in the early 1970s. With the exception of Total Indonesia, all major
operators had collectively withdrawn, leaving the Indonesian oil industry in turmoil. Indonesia
suffered a credibility crisis as a result of the government's reneging on existing contracts, the
oil sector observing nervously as tens of millions of dollars committed to general exploration
throughout the archipelago, suddenly floated into limbo.

‘No it won't,'
the
President's son rebutted, obstinately.

‘Then the changes should be effected by Presidential
Decree, and not directives from my office,'
the Minister
suggested.

‘No, that is not acceptable,'
was the response.

‘We could effectively position Indonesian interests so
that they could benefit from a greater share of profits by increasing royalty
payments,'
Doctor Sugit, the Director General interceded. He
could see that the Minister was in difficulty. It had not been his intention to challenge the
Palace's perpetual drive for increased wealth, it was just that he recognized who would be
singled out by the international business community as having effected the inappropriate changes
to existing mining, contracts of work – and blamed accordingly.