At that time, Maheu hadn't worked for the FBI for more than fifty years.
So it appears that since the very beginning Stocklein was in on the whole thing.
Huh? What ARE you talking about? Michael Williams wasn't "in on it" from the "beginning" either. He was an incompetent sleazebag who couldn't even handle the little job they gave him with one of the "sister" companies.
Maheu and Stoecklein weren't involved until after the company belatedly realized it was in very deep doodoo.
And yes, I know that for a fact: a friend of mine (now deceased) had known Stoecklein for years. They had a phone conversation around the time Stoecklein was hired. Stoecklein was laughing his head off about the size of CMKX's o/s.
Think about how many hours he put into this!!!
Not very many, I'll wager. And he clearly wished he'd just said no when first contacted.
It may be possible that mobster Louie Ippolito was the person who set up the original meetings with Michael Williams preceding Maheu’s involvement with CMKM Diamonds!
You'd consider that a Good Thing? Sounds ridiculous to me, unless Urbie owed Ippolito money, which I suppose is entirely possible.
Anyway, I took this one (CMKX) on with the same enthusiasm; I should’ve checked it out a hell of a lot more carefully before I did.
Which is to say he didn't check it out at all. It would have been very, very easy to do so.
And this exchange pretty much sums up the whole sorry episode:
FAULK: Did that lead you to believe that maybe they were kinda using you in name only to lend credibility to the company?
MAHEU: I had to have that feeling. I answered affirmatively when the judge asked me that question at the hearing. That was at the inception at this whole deal. I was what? Two plus months aboard at the time of the hearing, and not a hell of a lot longer.
AI
