With America recovering from the throes of a financial free-fall and billions of dollars wiped off the stock market, the financial sector tried desperately to stabilise the US economy.
Steve Valentine felt worried. Not only was he losing money with his property development business; the DEA and coastguard had seized a $16 million drug shipment from his other business. Now in his mid-forties, his gelled backed blonde hair and suntanned toned body, made him appear more of a beach bum than a successful businessman.
After inherited his family’s property development company when his father died several years earlier, he had spent his time as a spoilt rich kid, taking drugs, travelling to different countries, and avoiding work.