Con Man Page #5

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Okay. Have a good night,

buddy.

You've got all these

people fooled, don't ya?

If you've got a problem

with me,

you canalways stop

picking up your check.

You can't have me fooled,

Barry. You can't have me fooled.

You know what the difference

is between you and me, Mike?

I lead. You follow.

You're embarrassing.

Baby.

Hey, birthday boy.

Close your eyes.

Why?

Close your eyes.

Okay.

What is this?

A little toy

for the love of my life.

What? No. Wait, Barry.

It's your birthday.

It's not my birthday.

Because I love you,

that's why.

What are you doing?

Listen... Listen to me. Now.

I want you to take your new

car, grab a friend right now,

and I want you to go for a

little joyride, all right?

And I don't want you come back

until this is on empty.

Right now? Right now!

Right now. Go, go, go.

Thank you. I love you. You're welcome.

Hello there.

What took you so long?

It's my house,

you wait for me.

We'll see about that.

Ma! What are you doing here?

I'm sorry, I just wanted

to see you.

I wanted to congratulate you,

but you were surrounded by

so many presents and people,

I didn't get a chance... I'm

in the bathroom, for God sakes.

But I wanted to congratulate

you on, on the article.

Dad give you that?

Yeah.

You come over to tell me

you're proud of me?

It's very impressive.

"Impressive." I think it's

a bit more than impressive...

Come on, you've been praying for

this your whole life, haven't you?

Yeah, I was praying for this

but I was praying to my vanity.

What's that supposed to mean?

Please listen. I wanted...

I wanted so much more than

what your father could provide.

I didn't realize

what a good man he was.

"A good man." A good man

pays the water bill.

A good man keeps

the lights on in the house.

A good man will take care of

and provide for his family

no matter what the cost. I...

Mom... Mama... I'm a good man.

It's very hard to be

a good man, Barry.

You're really doing this to me

on my birthday, Mom?

What are you doing? You

want to turn on all this now?

I am the most successful thing

to ever come from this family.

All right? This is everything

that you've wanted.

This is everything

that Dad's wanted.

This is everything that I've

wanted for my entire life.

I mean, come on, I control

a $300 million company.

When I was downstairs, blowing

out my birthday candles,

I couldn't even think of anythingto

wish for, because I already have...

You don't have anything.

You don't have anything,

because you don't have morality!

I don't have...

You don't have God.

"God"?

How much is God? I'll buy God.

No, no, no.

Look, this is ancient history.

The banks and my investors

know about this.

A few dishonest carpet cleaners

false-billed some customers.

I fired them

and paid everyone back.

I don't see

what the problem is.

The problem is that stock

prices respond to news reports.

And your stock is

already down half a point.

There's a lot of pressure

to sell the shorts, Barry...

Okay. Well, then hold them

off! Okay? Forget the shorts!

I'm gonna...

I'm issuing a press release

for this afternoon

that'll clear

this whole thing up.

Our stock will be back up

to normal in no time.

I have to go.

I'll call you back.

First Bank of

Santa Barbara is

calling in their $7 million

loan because of the article.

What about NorthRidge

National? The same.

That's nine million bucks,

Mikey.

Barry, there's one more thing.

Saxon sold all of his shares.

He what?

Okay.

Mike, I need you to do

something for me, all right?

I need you to draft

a press release, okay?

Say that Payne Cameron has fully

investigated all of these charges

and cleared ZZZZ Best

of any wrongdoing.

Are you kidding me?

Just do it.

Amy?

Amy!

Amy!

People keep

calling us, Barry.

Thank you

for the observation.

Amy, now listen, I need you...

I need you to...

I need you to schedule a press

conference for this afternoon, okay?

How do I do that?

Time to earn

your paycheck, Amy. Go!

This is Barry.

Hey! Look on

the bright side. All right?

At least they're only talking

about credit card fraud,

not the restoration jobs,

right?

Mr. Minkow,

can you comment on why

your stock went down

four points today?

Absolutely. See, that was a

reaction to the LA Times story

about a past problem we had with

some dishonest carpet cleaners.

The banks and our investors

already knew about this.

But is it true that the SEC has

ordered an investigation of ZZZZ Best?

I'm unaware of

any such investigation.

Your prospectus states that

you completed a $7 million

restoration project in Sacramento

and yet, ZZZZ Best never filed

a permit for such construction.

And in fact, ZZZZ Best doesn't

even hold a contractor's license.

How do you explain that?

I'm going to have to refer that

question to our legal staff.

You know,

that's all for today.

I'm so sorry. I have to go.

Thank you all.

Mr. Minkow, how do you feel

about Payne Cameron resigning?

We have

more questions, Mr. Minkow.

We are here, live, on ZZZZ

Best's property. Barry Minkow...

I can't believe

that Payne Cameron resigned.

What did you think

was going to happen, Barry?

What's that supposed to mean?

It's over, man. It's over.

No, it's not.

No, it's not over. I can fix this. Okay

I can fix this

just like I fixed everything.

If I fixed it before

I can fix it...

Barry, you can't fix this.

Yes, I can!

Do you still not get it?

You can't climb out

of this one, Barry.

What do you know, huh, Mike?

You have no idea what it takes

to build something like this.

Yeah... You know,

actually, I do.

You know...

All it takes is an

incredible ability to lie.

I mean,

that's all you did, Barry.

You're a phony.

You used everyone.

I used people?

You used people.

You used me for money,

and popularity.

You sucked me dry, man.

Are you serious?

Absolutely!

You know, for somebody so

smart, you can be really stupid.

You...

You are a loser!

You betrayed me. You were a loser

when I met you in high school.

I'm done.

You're a loser now,

and you'll always be a

loser! I'm done with you.

I'm done with you.

Barry.

I'm done with you!

You lying, self-centered, backstabbing

son of a b*tch. I'm done with you!

Payne Cameron's team

was pretty angry.

They said

the press release was a lie.

They said they never

investigated the charges.

Is that true?

Anyway, the phone's ringing

off the hook.

The Journal, the Times,

everyone wants to speak with you.

Barry, what do you

want me to do?

I'll be back in a hour.

Mr. Minkow,

you are a dangerous man.

You do not have a conscience.

You have been convicted of 57

counts of fraud, Mr. Minkow,

and you are hereby ordered to

serve a term of 25 years in jail.

And you are further ordered

to make restitution of $26

million to the individuals,

some of whom

you see here today,

whose lives you have severely

impacted by your actions...

The banks and the companies you

pulled into your elaborate scheme.

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