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Someone Stole My Rolls Royce 

Investing in California real estate in the 1980\\u2019s was fun. Whatever you  bought you could sell for more. The doctrine: \\u201cthere is always a greater  fool than I,\\u201d worked.  

Li Chen Hua immigrated to California from Hong Kong in 1981. He did it  legally, winning a lottery for a Green Card. He came to the U.S. with  his savings (converted from Hong Kong dollars to diamonds for ease of  transportation).  Li set himself up in a condominium on Wilshire Boulevard just west of  the community known as Westwood and east of Beverly Hills. It only cost  him $500,000. He bought three other condos in the same building that  first year and paid his mortgages and living expenses from the rent he  collected.

In 2008 the bottom fell out of the California real estate market. Mr.  Li, found himself owning real estate mortgaged to over $14,000,000 but  worth only $9,000,000. The rents he collected were not sufficient to pay  the various mortgages and allow him to continue in the life style with  to which he had become accustomed. He needed to make a great deal of  money fast and then, leaving his mortgagees to fend for themselves,  return to Hong Kong for a pleasant retirement.  Mr. Li\\u2019s cousin was the number one luxury car dealer in all of the  People\\u2019s Republic of China. She had no competition, an almost unlimited  supply of vehicles, and overhead limited to shipping costs. 

Li\\u2019s account  at CitiBank, Hong Kong was growing. He put his savings in broad-based  stock mutual funds specializing in high risk emerging markets. His  investments doubled in two years.  Li decided it was time to stop while he was ahead. He would ship his  pRoger Parsons, the claims supervisor at Massive and Stoney Insurance  Company, looking out his window at the slow moving, brown Illinois  River, was about to order a check for the settlement when he received a  report from the NICB that the car had been shipped by Li to Hong Kong a  month before the reported theft. Customs officials in Hong Kong reported  the car arrived and was picked up by its consignee. 

The NICB had copies  available of the shipping documents with Mr. Li\\u2019s signature.  Massive and Stoney retained counsel to examine Mr. Li under oath about  the theft. Li and his attorney appeared at Massive\\u2019s lawyer\\u2019s office  belligerent, demanding immediate payment of a legitimate insurance  claim.  \\u201cMr. Li is a wealthy and highly respected member of the community. This  examination under oath is a waste of time and an attempt to create  useless and unwarranted delays. If payment is not received immediately,  Mr. Li will sue Massive and Stoney for bad faith\\u201d Len Shyster, Li\\u2019s  attorney, orated.