CHEQUE MATE ANALYSIS PDF – KEVIN BALDEOSINGH 

Main issues in Cheque Mate

• Fraud
• Worry/Fear

 

Cheque Mate is a story about how those involved in fraud live in constant worry of being exposed.

Sukiya lives in constant worry. This the retribution she gets for involvement in fraudulent deals. Although she is wealthy, she is always anxious that she may be exposed. She painstakingly tries to conceal her illicit wealth and the shadowy deals. Among the things she does are:

• avoiding bank managers
• having offshore bank accounts
• having a private study
• having an encrypted computer with no internet access
• triple checking her confidential records
• mistrust/having to record Randall’s voice
• dressing to her advantage as a strategy

 

Sukiya is a lady of means but her life is riddled with worry, anxiety, fear and paranoia as a result of her criminal lifestyle.

She suffers because of her involvement in crime while working as a corporate secretary for Randall A. Credo.

When she goes to the bank, Sukiya deliberately avoids the branch where she has her savings account, to avoid familiarity with the staff who would know her business too well. She stands in a special queue for platinum credit card holders.  She is startled when the teller asks her if she wanted to deposit the thirty million dollars in her savings account or whether she preferred to open a U.S. dollar account.

She avoids dealing with bank managers. When she was appointed corporate secretary, she got a tenfold salary raise. She automatically saves fifty thousand dollars on 28^th of every month. That is how her boss Randall had advised her to arrange her finances.

Her savings account has over seven million dollars in it. Since she deposits large sums that are not commensurate with her salary, she avoids bank managers who may become suspicious.

There is no room for mistakes. A mistake could be costly. Sukiya feels a flutter in her stomach when she realizes that she almost makes a mistake of depositing 5 million US dollars in her local account. This makes her aghast.

She deposits all the US cheques in her Cayman Islands account. Sukiya flies from Trinidad to Grand Cayman every two months to deposit US cheques paid for her extra duties involving foreign firms. Her boss Randall prefers making payments in paper, because of the fear of having his account hacked into and cleared out by criminals.

While talking to the teller, Sukiya also tries to conceal her countryside accent.   

Sukiya heads home to check her private records.  She knows that Randall would be infuriated if her mistake had exposed him to public embarrassment or illegal investigation. There is little worry about public embarrassment since Randall gives politicians money to fund their campaigns, build pet projects and for their personal bank accounts. His company has shares in every major media house effectively gagging the journalists.

Everything Sukiya does is strategic. This includes her dress code. She is dressed for style but chooses to go for a more formal outfit when meeting her boss even though she has known him and his secrets for many years. She dresses with special care when meeting him. She decides to wear her royal-blue Armani skirt suit and a pink camisole. She wants every advantage in case the meeting turns into a negotiation.

Usually, Sukiya does not mind the traffic because of her high vantage point in her Audi Q7, a rare model, with a quiet engine. It is tinted far darker than the legal limit, providing adequate privacy. Today, however, these things cannot calm her since she is worried about her mistake that could have potentially exposed her fraudulent deals.

Sukiya’s study is private. It is always under key and lock. Her maids are not allowed to enter even when she is present.

To conceal her transactions, Sukiya’s computer on which she keeps her confidential records has no Internet access. It is also encrypted with more than one layer of password protection.

Sukiya triple checks her records to ensure that they are accurate. She also has to ensure that the records which were not supposed to be accurate were not accurate in the right way.

When she figures out what was wrong with the cheques, she feels tension in her thighs and knees. She even thinks of running away but decides against it.

Sukiya has to plan a strategy before meeting Randall.

Margaret, Randall’s executive secretary, is paid more than most managers in the company subsidiaries, because she knows so much about Randall's dealings.

Sukiya realizes that Randall tricked her into and devaluing some shares. Randall was offered a huge kickback by the Chinese for offering them a methanol plant at below value. If this is exposed, they could be charged with fraud.

In order to exonerate himself, Randall makes it appear like Sukiya forged his signature. Randall’s scheme to conceal his underhand dealings include using Sukiya’s 18 carat Tibaldi rollerball to sign some documents.

Sukiya’s nervousness goes from merely causing a flutter in her stomach to feeling as though her stomach was a cold, tight ball.

Randall says that on the books as officially recorded the five million U.S. dollar was paid to Sukiya for the methanol deal, but really it was for keeping her mouth shut about the fraudulent methanol deal.

Although Sukiya has apparently always been loyal to Randall, she was paid enough to be loyal.

The mistrust between the two is apparent when Sukiya uses her iPhone to record Randall’s voice and goes ahead to e-mail a copy of the evidence that incriminates Randall.

When he realizes that he is cornered, Randall’s anxiety is evident through his heavy breathing, appearing as if held by invisible chains.

Sukiya tells him not to worry. They will face the coming storm together.

Indeed, those who are involved in fraudulent deals suffer immensely trying to conceal their illicit financial deals. They are constantly wary of the possibility of being exposed, facing investigations and being charged with financial transgressions.

 

Cheque Mate: How is Sukiya desperate to hide her ill-gotten wealth?

• Avoids the bank branch where she has her savings account
• Avoids dealing with bank managers directly
• Her salary does not show her actual income 
• Her father doesn't know about her huge income and that she's studying accounting
• Has offshore accounts in the Grand Caymans for her US dollar cheques
• Keeps her study private
• Her computer has no internet access
• Her computer is password protected
• She is paid for creating loopholes instead of sealing them 
• She dresses strategically when meeting her boss
• There is mistrust between her boss and her
• Her Audi is tinted for privacy

 Cheque Mate: How is Randall desperate to hide her ill-gotten wealth?

• His company sponsors politicians' campaigns 
• The politicians and the media protect the image of his company
• He gets construction deals for the prime ministers pet projects
• He forges his own signature using Sukiya's pen
• He overpays Sukiya and Margaret to buy their loyalty 

CHEQUE MATE PRACTICE QUESTION

People who acquire wealth through questionable means live in constant fear of being exposed and therefore try very hard to keep their dealings secret. Write an essay to support this statement citing illustrations from Kevin Baldeosingh's Cheque Mate.

Next: A Man of Awesome Power Analysis 

ESSAYS: Read A Silent Song and Other Stories Essays and Answers PDF here

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