CLIPPED.CASE 004 · FINANCE · 1920FR

A TRUE ARCHIVE MYSTERY · ABOUT 12 MIN

THE NINETY-DAY PROMISE

A company promises extraordinary returns from international exchange. Audit obligations, activity and the path of repayments before deciding what funded them.

Editorial reconstruction of a ninety-day note$100 borrowed · $150 promised at maturity · 90 days

Interface reconstruction, not a historical facsimile. Every figure appears in the evidence below.

Eight exhibits from the official record

Readable evidence fallback

The interactive controls require JavaScript. The complete evidence remains readable:

  1. The company represented a 100% profit from post-war exchange differences.
  2. A $100 loan produced a note promising $150 after ninety days.
  3. Ninety-day notes were paid after forty-five days.
  4. Principal, return and commission made a fully paid $100 loan cost $160.
  5. $14,374,000 in notes exceeded $9,582,000 received by $4,792,000.
  6. Rapid transfers mixed receipts in a common account.
  7. The later official record states that no investments of any kind were made.
  8. Six lenders’ deposits had left before their checks were paid from a pool replenished by other borrowed money.

Possible explanations: a scalable trade; a real trade overwhelmed by growth; or later loans paying earlier lenders.

What funded the repayments?