The Heist (46 page)

There is no Luxembourg-registered firm called LXR Investments, nor is there a private bank in Linz, Austria, known as Bank Weber AG. The banks of Austria were once among the most secretive in the world—more secretive, even, than the banks of Switzerland. But in May 2013, under pressure from the European Union and the United States, Austrian banks agreed to begin sharing information on their depositors with the tax authorities of other countries. For better or worse, institutions such as Bank Weber—family-owned boutique-style banks that cater to the very wealthy—are fast becoming a dying breed. At the time of this writing, Switzerland’s ledger of private banks had shrunk to just 148 institutions, with further consolidation and attrition expected to reduce that number even further in the future. Clearly, the days of the gnome seem numbered, as American and European governments engage in ever more aggressive measures to combat tax evasion.

There was indeed a massacre in the Syrian city of Hama in 1982, and, using numerous sources, I have tried to render its horror accurately. The man who ordered the city’s destruction, and the murder of more than twenty thousand of its residents, was not the nameless dictator portrayed in
The Heist.
He was Hafez al-Assad, ruler of Syria from 1970 until his death in 2000, when his middle son, the London-educated Bashar, assumed control. There were some Middle East experts who mistook Bashar for a reformer. But in March 2011, when the so-called Arab Spring finally came to Syria, he responded with a savagery that included the use of poison gas against women and children. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war, and another two million have been left homeless or have fled to neighboring countries, mainly Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. The number of Syrians living as refugees is soon expected to surpass four million, which would make it the largest refugee population in the world. Such is the legacy of four and a half decades of Assad family rule. If the slaughter and dislocation continues apace, the Assads might one day be rulers of a land without people.

But why do the Assads fight on when a majority of their people clearly want to be done with them? And why with such wanton disregard for civilized norms? Surely, it must have something to do with money. “It’s a typical family business,” Jules Kroll, the international corporate investigator and asset-recovery specialist, told CNBC in September 2013. “Except the family business is a country.” Published estimates of the Assads’ wealth range wildly. Bashar is reportedly worth in excess of $1 billion, though experts estimate the total family fortune at about $25 billion. The case of Egypt is illustrative. Former president Hosni Mubarak, a recipient of American taxpayer largesse for more than thirty years, is estimated to have acquired a fortune of perhaps $70 billion—this in a country where the average citizen subsists on just eight dollars a day.

A tiny fraction of Syrian regime assets has been frozen by the United States and its European allies, but billions of dollars remain carefully hidden. At the time of this writing, professional asset hunters were busy searching for the money. So, too, was Steven Perles, a Washington, DC, lawyer who represents victims of Syrian-sponsored terrorism. Experts agree the asset hunters will likely need the help of someone inside Assad Incorporated if their efforts are to prove successful. Perhaps that person has bought a stake in a small private bank in Austria. And perhaps there is a brave young woman, a child of Hama, watching his every move.

T
HIS NOVEL, LIKE THE PREVIOUS
thirteen books in the Gabriel Allon series, could not have been written without the assistance of David Bull, who truly is among the finest art restorers in the world. Each year, David gives up many hours of his valuable time to advise me on technical matters related to the craft of restoration and to review my manuscript for accuracy. His knowledge of art history is exceeded only by the pleasure of his company, and his friendship has enriched our family in ways large and small.

I spoke to numerous Israeli and American intelligence officers and policymakers while preparing this manuscript, and I thank them now in anonymity, which is how they would prefer it. Also, a very special thanks to the brilliant Patrick Matthiesen, who owns an enchanted Old Master art gallery in Mason’s Yard, very near Julian Isherwood’s. The only other trait they have in common is decency—decency being in short supply these days, in London or anywhere else.

I am indebted to T, an international investor and businessman with wide experience in the Middle East, who told me about the quiet helpers of the dictators who walk around with lists of bank accounts in their pockets. Louis Toscano, my dear friend and longtime personal editor, made countless improvements to my manuscript, as did my copy editor, Kathy Crosby. Obviously, responsibility for any mistakes or typographical errors that find their way into the finished book falls on my shoulders, not theirs.

I consulted hundreds of books, newspaper and magazine articles, and Web sites while preparing this manuscript, far too many to name here. I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention the extraordinary scholarship of Andrew Graham-Dixon, Helen Langdon, Edward Dolnick, Peter Watson, Patrick Seale, Thomas L. Friedman, Francine Prose, Jonathan Harr, Simon Houpt, and Fouad Ajami. Also, a respectful thanks to the reporters and photojournalists who have courageously ventured into Syria during this time of war and destruction. They are a powerful reminder of why the world still needs quality journalism.

We are blessed with many friends who fill our lives with love and laughter at critical junctures during the writing year, especially Betsy and Andrew Lack, Andrea and Tim Collins, Enola and Stephen Carter, Stacey and Henry Winkler, Mirella and Dani Levinas, Elsa Walsh and Bob Woodward, Jane and Burt Bacharach, Nancy Dubuc and Michael Kizilbash, Joy and Jim Zorn, Caryn and Jeff Zucker, Elliott Abrams, and Fred Zeidman. A heartfelt thanks to Michael Gendler and Linda Rappaport for all their support and wise counsel. Also, to the remarkable team of professionals at HarperCollins, especially Jonathan Burnham, Brian Murray, Michael Morrison, Jennifer Barth, Josh Marwell, Tina Andreadis, Leslie Cohen, Leah Wasielewski, Mark Ferguson, Kathy Schneider, Brenda Segel, Carolyn Bodkin, Doug Jones, Karen Dziekonski, David Watson, Shawn Nicholls, Amy Baker, Mary Sasso, David Koral, Leah Carlson-Stanisic, and Archie Ferguson.

Finally, I wish to extend my deepest gratitude and love to my children, Nicholas and Lily, and to my wife, Jamie Gangel, who listened patiently while I constructed my plot and then skillfully edited my manuscript. Were it not for her patience and attention to detail,
The Heist
would not have been completed by its deadline. My debt to her is immeasurable, as is my love.

Author photograph © John Earle

DANIEL SILVA
IS THE AWARD-WINNING
, number one
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Unlikely Spy, The Mark of the Assassin, The Marching Season, The Kill Artist
,
The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, Prince of Fire, The Messenger
,
The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, The Defector
,
The Rembrandt Affair, Portrait of a Spy, The Fallen Angel
, and
The English Girl.
His books are published in more than thirty countries and are bestsellers around the world. He serves on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and lives in Florida with his wife, Jamie Gangel, and their two children, Lily and Nicholas.

Visit Daniel Silva on the Web:
www.danielsilvabooks.com

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The English Girl

The Fallen Angel

Portrait of a Spy

The Rembrandt Affair

The Defector

Moscow Rules

The Secret Servant

The Messenger

Prince of Fire

A Death in Vienna

The Confessor

The English Assassin

The Kill Artist

The Marching Season

The Mark of the Assassin

The Unlikely Spy

Cover design by Archie Ferguson

Cover photograph © Ken Welsh/DesignPics/Alamy

The Heist
is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents portrayed in the story are the product of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

THE HEIST
. Copyright © 2014 by Two Joeys Productions. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN: 978-0-06-232005-6

ISBN: 978-0-06-232607-2 (International Edition)

ISBN: 978-0-06-233776-4 (Signed Edition)

EPUB Edition July 2014 ISBN 9780062320070

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