More than four hundred million dollars over several stages, subject to approvals, financing, and other conditions.
The nephew supported the project enthusiastically.
He argued that the family's historic tea operations were becoming less profitable relative to real estate and international hospitality. He believed the company needed to move beyond sentiment and treat the mountain property as an underused financial asset.
But the billionaire had begun reconsidering.
His daughter, a forty-year-old Japanese-American environmental lawyer, had sent him independent reports questioning the project's effects on nearby growers and water systems.
For years, father and daughter had disagreed about the family's priorities.
He thought she was idealistic.
She thought he was too willing to trade community obligations for commercial growth.
Their arguments were frequent.
But the latest reports troubled him.
Some appeared inconsistent with the rosy summaries presented by his nephew.
The chairman had quietly ordered an independent technical review.
He also scheduled a meeting with local representatives in Japan before approving any final land arrangement.
That decision infuriated the nephew.
Because the land wasn't merely an opportunity for new profits.
It was the asset he needed to conceal an enormous financial mistake.
Five years earlier, the nephew had established an investment partnership outside the company's ordinary operations.
He described it as a personal venture focused on technology and hospitality.
At first, the partnership performed well.
Investors received attractive returns.
The nephew gained a reputation for understanding emerging opportunities.
And several wealthy acquaintances began asking him to manage more money.
Then he made a series of increasingly risky investments.
A hospitality technology company collapsed.
A foreign property project experienced delays.
And the partnership borrowed heavily against assets whose projected values were much higher than their realizable values.
The nephew concealed the problem.
He moved funds between accounts to satisfy immediate obligations.
Promised investors that delayed projects would soon recover.
And negotiated additional financing based on expectations that were never guaranteed.
Eventually, several lenders demanded repayment.
The amounts were too large for him to cover from personal savings.
He faced the prospect of losing almost everything.
Worse, certain guarantees and representations raised questions about whether he'd improperly used his corporate position to support the venture.
He needed money quickly.
The Kameyama Ridge project offered a potential solution.
A successful transaction could generate fees, bonuses, and related commercial opportunities sufficient to help him settle at least part of his obligations.
It could also improve the valuation of assets he'd previously presented as security for private financing.
But only if the project moved forward.
The chairman's independent review threatened all of it.
And the nephew had begun to fear that the audit would uncover more than environmental concerns.
The chief financial officer knew about the private investment problems.