"We've only retrieved a small portion of the cash from him."
Potoby Flick swallowed hard, "Could he be lying and hiding the rest of the cash?"
"I have the same thought, but he insists that they never had the chance to take away 12.7 million US dollars in cash.
I thought about it carefully, and indeed, it would be quite challenging; 12.7 million US dollars weigh about 294 pounds, and adding the belongings in the storage lockers and personal gear, it is roughly estimated each robber would be carrying over 100 pounds.
Do you know what this means?
In the muddy, narrow, and uneven sewer, it might be difficult to move an inch, let alone escape the FBI's pursuit."
So... Potoby Flick, I'm giving you another chance, how much cash was actually stolen from the bank vault?"
"Oh, God, why is this happening to me? I just experienced a robbery yesterday; why do I have to go through this again..." Potoby Flick clutched his hair, showing a look of vexation.
Luke advised, "You should know that insurance fraud is a serious crime; you might end up spending the rest of your life in prison if suspected of large-scale insurance fraud."
Potoby Flick just shook his head, still refusing to talk.
Luke continued to apply pressure, "I see.
The reason you don't want to talk isn't due to insurance fraud but because it's a greater charge.
You are the mastermind behind this robbery, conspiring with the robbers to plan this bank heist.
Congratulations on acquiring your own fixed assets in prison."
"No, the robbery has nothing to do with me!" Potoby Flick retorted loudly, his emotions intense, "I... I admit I lied.
But I was just following orders; such things aren't for me to decide."
"Who gave you these orders?"
"The president of North Hollywood Bank, Hogni Kline."
Luke noted down the name, probing again, "So, he masterminded the bank robbery and then had you assist the kidnappers?"
"It's not like that, the bank robbery has nothing to do with me.
After being rescued by the police, I got my phone back and that's when I got in touch with Hogni Kline. He told me to lie about the amount of cash stolen from the bank.
I didn't want to do that, but I had no choice..."
Luke pressed, "Insurance company money isn't easy to swindle; why would Hogni Kline do this?"
Potoby Flick said, "I'm not clear on the specifics.
But business has been tough these two years; thousands of banks in America have gone bankrupt.
The financial state of North Hollywood Bank isn't good either, it's likely to be the next bank to go bankrupt; everyone's having a hard time.
My guess is that he just wanted to use the compensation money to give the bank a breather."
"And what about you? Knowing that it's a criminal act, why did you follow his orders?"
Potoby Flick sighed lightly, "I had just been through a robbery at that time, my mind was in chaos.
When he suddenly ordered me to do that over the phone, I didn't even react, I just... habitually obeyed his instructions.
I have a family to support, I need this job."
"Did you record the conversation at that time?"
"Then how can you prove it was he who instructed you, and not you acting on your own?"
"We have the call record."
"That can only show that you two contacted each other; it doesn't prove he instructed you to commit fraud."
Potoby Flick said, "Such things are not as easy as one might imagine, there are records of the bank's daily financial transactions and vault cash, and only the president has the authority to facilitate and alter those records."
Luke inquired, "What was the actual amount of cash in the bank's vault?"
"Almost five million US dollars."
"So you're saying you're suspected of inflating the claim and defrauding nearly 10 million US dollars." Luke mused, no wonder the insurance company is in a hurry to hire Flick Detective Agency to investigate; they're dealing with a total compensation amount of up to 17 million US dollars. And how much does hiring a detective cost?
With one lie already told, Luke no longer believed him.
Who knows if Potoby Flick was downplaying the situation.
Soon after, Luke took his team to Hogni Kline's home, took his statement promptly, and with Potoby Flick's identification and testimony, Hogni Kline admitted to instructing him to exaggerate the stolen cash for insurance fraud.
However, Hogni Kline also denied any involvement in the robbery, even less acknowledging himself as the behind-the-scenes instigator of the heist.
He claimed that he had only come up with the idea to reduce the bank's losses after learning of the robbery.
In retrospect, he regretted it, having spent a night in fear without a good sleep, but regret was already too late.
Luke recalculated, if there were only about five million US dollars in the vault, and more than two million in new cash still left there, then the amount of cash stolen hovered around 2.5 million US dollars. The total weight of the stolen cash was around 58 pounds, averaging a little over 11 pounds per person, which sounded more reasonable.
At the same time, Luke considered another issue.
2.5 million US dollars is not a small amount, but for a bank robbery with such high risks, the amount stolen didn't seem to be much.
At least, Luke felt it didn't outweigh the risks.
Or perhaps, the robbers' objective was not the cash, taking the cash might have been incidental, possibly to conceal their true purpose.
Luke speculated that the real target of the robbers was likely the private safety deposit boxes in the bank.
The robbers might have had prior knowledge that some invaluable items were stored in North Hollywood Bank's safety deposit boxes, and that's why they risked the operation.
Luke now had another direction for the investigation, to re-examine the safety deposit boxes to see if any valuable items could be discovered, items worth risking everything for.
As long as the real motive for the robbery could be determined, it would be possible to trace back to the robbers."