Transcript of the phone conversation with the FBI’s Field Office of Chicago
Transcript of the phone conversation between me and the FBI’s Field Office of Chicago. I called them on December 23, 2015, at 20:30 +0800 (China Standard Time).
Note: the video I posted on YouTube has been edited for privacy. I also removed a small part at the beginning in which I explain the FBI the problems I was facing in my previous attempts to contact them.
WARNING! I need to clarify and/or correct a few things I said to the FBI back in 2015. I will try to do this soon.
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;11;18
FBI: Field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All incoming calls are subject to recording. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911.
00;00;11;28 - 00;00;15;10
FBI: Please listen to all menu options before making your selection.
00;00;38;28 - 00;00;47;29
FBI: If you are calling to report a violation of a federal statute to provide a tip to report suspicious activity or crime, press one.
00;00;52;08 - 00;00;54;17
FBI: Press two. If you… please hold.
00;01;01;10 - 00;01;08;11
FBI: You have reached the FBI’s public access line. This call may be recorded or monitored for quality assurance purposes.
00;01;23;00 - 00;01;26;21
FBI: Thank you for calling the FBI. Can I get your name, please?
00;01;26;21 - 00;01;28;05
Victim/whistle-blower: Hi. My name is
00;01;28;05 - 00;01;42;04
[EDITED/REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, I GIVE MY NAME TO THE FBI]
00;01;46;22 - 00;01;49;05
FBI: [and could I get a][?] phone number from you, sir?
00;01;49;05 - 00;01;56;28
Victim/whistle-blower: A phone number?
FBI: Uh huh.
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay. I’m calling from China so the country code is 0086,
00;01;56;28 - 00;02;01;10
[EDITED/REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, I GIVE MY PHONE NUMBER IN CHINA]
00;02;03;25 - 00;02;05;09
FBI: How can I help you, sir?
00;02;05;09 - 00;02;09;07
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay, I’m calling you because I have received an email
00;02;11;09 - 00;02;19;11
Victim/whistle-blower: from the Chicago@ic.fbi.gov to tell me
00;02;19;11 - 00;02;31;05
Victim/whistle-blower: I should call the FBI public access line at 1-800-call-FBI, uh, to submit further documentation
00;02;33;17 - 00;02;34;03
FBI: Okay.
00;02;34;03 - 00;02;37;04
Victim/whistle-blower: And I have tried to call this number
00;02;37;04 - 00;02;43;19
Victim/whistle-blower: and excuse me to say so, but first of all, this phone number it’s
00;02;43;19 - 00;02;58;29
Victim/whistle-blower: it’s just crazy and madness. It’s a phone number for major case, and it’s impossible to to get anyone.
00;02;58;29 - 00;03;07;04
Victim/whistle-blower: Basically, I have tried to call three times and the waiting time is quite long,
00;03;07;29 - 00;03;23;24
Victim/whistle-blower: and there is a horrible noise and I think you should report this to your supervisor because the noise is so bad that anyone will hang up quite quickly.
00;03;24;25 - 00;04;57;28
[EDITED/REDACTED, I EXPLAINED THE FBI THE PROBLEMS I HAD WITH THEIR HOTLINE]
00;04;59;04 - 00;05;05;07
Victim/whistle-blower: And it was still the same horrible sound. I think there’s a technical issue, a technical problem with your hotline.
00;05;05;25 - 00;05;08;08
Victim/whistle-blower: OK, but this is not what I’m calling about.
00;05;08;19 - 00;05;15;17
Victim/whistle-blower: I’m calling regarding a complaint I filed with the FBI, and I wanted to submit further evidence.
00;05;16;03 - 00;05;26;15
So I have received an email on December 18 from the Chicago@ic.fbi.gov telling me, Dear Mr.
00;05;26;15 - 00;05;31;01
[EDITED/REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, I READ WHAT THE EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM THE FBI SAID]
00;05;31;13 - 00;05;36;29
Victim/whistle-blower: please contact the FBI Public Access line by calling 1-800-call-FBI.
00;05;37;00 - 00;05;40;01
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay? and I answer to this email
00;05;40;01 - 00;05;45;00
Victim/whistle-blower: explaining that basically how can I submit to evidence
00;05;45;00 - 00;05;48;21
Victim/whistle-blower: like PDF files and things like this by calling on the phone line.
00;05;48;22 - 00;05;53;29
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay? so this is what I answered this email address and yesterday
00;05;53;29 - 00;05;59;26
Victim/whistle-blower: I have received another email telling me again to call 1-800-call-FBI
00;06;00;08 - 00;06;04;04
Victim/whistle-blower: and he say they can assist you as to where to send your documentation
00;06;05;00 - 00;06;11;06
Victim/whistle-blower: The problem is that I’m not able to call this hotline because of this issue I am describing
00;06;14;08 - 00;06;18;12
FBI: Okay. So can you explain to me what’s going on sir in that way?
00;06;19;04 - 00;06;33;07
Victim/whisle-blower: Yes, I did file a complaint concerning the McDonald’s Corporation. Which is based in Illinois. In Oak Brook.
00;06;33;07 - 00;06;35;03
FBI: How do you spell that? That company.
00;06;35;03 - 00;06;37;08
Victim/whistle-blower: McDonald’s, you know, the fast food company.
00;06;37;09 - 00;06;39;22
FBI: Oh, McDonald’s.
Victim/whistle-blower: Yes.
FBI: Okay.
00;06;41;22 - 00;06;52;14
Victim/whistle-blower: And I filed a complaint and I’ve submitted already a few documents, but I just have too many documents to submit.
00;06;52;14 - 00;07;01;20
Victim/whistle-blower: And I think it would be best if I can submit it directly to the investigator in charge.
00;07;04;14 - 00;07;14;18
FBI: If you’ve already filed your complaint, you would just need to wait to see if you’re contacted, sir. I mean, there’s no way for you to forward that information at this point.
00;07;15;05 - 00;07;21;17
FBI: Um, you would be forwarded after somebody would, would get in touch with you if we thought we needed it, sir.
00;07;21;24 - 00;07;26;17
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay. Let me ask you a question. So what if I’m never contacted again?
00;07;30;00 - 00;07;38;17
FBI: And you’re not contacted, sir? But, I mean, do you want to tell me what it is that you’re, what you’re specifically trying to report about the company?
00;07;38;17 - 00;07;50;07
Victim/whistle-blower: Yes. I’m accusing McDonald’s to commit fraud in Europe and I’m accusing the U.S. office to know about the fraud they are committing in Europe.
00;07;51;13 - 00;08;04;06
Victim/whistle-blower: And I know that I’ve talked to the… Gloria Santana, who is the general counsel of McDonald’s in Illinois.
00;08;05;04 - 00;08;17;26
Victim/whistle-blower: And I know that some of… one of my email at least, was clearly forwarded from Ms. Santona to Steve Easterbrook, who is the CEO of McDonald’s Corporation.
00;08;18;25 - 00;08;32;05
Victim/whistle-blower: And I’ve warned them many times about the ongoing fraud which was happening in Europe, and it seems they are turning a blind eye to that.
00;08;32;24 - 00;08;42;22
Victim/whistle-blower: And you’re going to see maybe that this is a European matter. But I kind of disagree because I accuse them of corrupting a French official
00;08;43;07 - 00;08;53;06
Victim/whistle-blower: and if they corrupt a French official in this case, there is a violation of the, um, how is it called? It’s a…
00;08;54;13 - 00;09;01;08
FBI: Public corruption.
Victim/whistle-blower: Yes. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That’s it! The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
00;09;01;08 - 00;09;03;28
Victim/whistle-blower: so and on top of these there are like,
00;09;04;27 - 00;09;09;11
Victim/whistle-blower: you know, once you start with foreign violations, it’s like a domino effect.
00;09;09;11 - 00;09;11;18
Victim/whistle-blower: You know, there are multiple violations which are following
00;09;11;18 - 00;09;19;26
Victim/whistle-blower: like the failure to warn the investors, the people who invest in the McDonald’s stocks in the stock exchange.
00;09;20;07 - 00;09;24;24
Victim/whistle-blower: And then it becomes endless, basically. But this is a serious case.
00;09;24;24 - 00;09;33;19
Victim/whistle-blower: I have lots of documents I wanted to submit because I do want a criminal investigation to be opened in this case.
00;09;35;07 - 00;09;38;19
FBI: Okay. I mean, what what specifically are they doing?
00;09;39;16 - 00;09;45;28
FBI: What have they done?
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay. Specifically, it’s like this. I’ll try to explain simply
00;09;45;28 - 00;09;49;13
Victim/whistle-blower: maybe you first of all, let me ask you a simple question.
00;09;49;13 - 00;09;54;10
Victim/whistle-blower: Are you aware about the McDonald’s Monopoly game in the United States or not?
00;09;55;21 - 00;10;00;26
FBI: Yes.
Victim/whistle-blower: OK, in the United States, within the regulations of the game,
00;10;01;10 - 00;10;08;08
Victim/whistle-blower: it’s written even though it’s not clearly, it’s not clear at all. It’s deep within the rules of the game.
00;10;08;18 - 00;10;21;06
Victim/whistle-blower: It’s written [note: in the U.S.] that the game is rigged, basically, that you don’t have the stickers are not are not given in equal proportion.
00;10;21;20 - 00;10;29;08
Victim/whistle-blower: So basically, in the United States, it’s clearly [note: relatively speaking! It’s not really clear since it’s hidden deeply within the official rules] written that basically you don’t have any chance to win.
00;10;29;08 - 00;10;44;08
Victim/whistle-blower: However, within Europe, they have failed to put this notification within the rules. And the result of this is that it’s a violation of a European directive,
00;10;44;28 - 00;10;55;29
Victim/whistle-blower: which is the directive, European directive 2005/29/CE, and it’s what we call a misleading omission.
00;10;56;14 - 00;11;03;02
Victim/whistle-blower: And by not warning the European consumer that this is not exactly like
00;11;03;02 - 00;11;11;27
Victim/whistle-blower: the Monopoly game, it’s actually quite different because it’s almost impossible to win, it becomes a fraud in Europe
00;11;12;22 - 00;11;16;21
Victim/whistle-blower: and because it’s a fraud in Europe, this is a serious case
00;11;17;04 - 00;11;24;06
Victim/whistle-blower: and I’ve notified the company and in France, for example, to, to,
00;11;24;07 - 00;11;28;23
Victim/whistle-blower: to let such a sweepstakes to go ahead, you
00;11;29;14 - 00;11;34;13
Victim/whistle-blower: you absolutely you must need the approval of a French official. [Note: “an huissier de justice”, a judicial/ministerial officer]
00;11;35;12 - 00;11;47;02
Victim/whistle-blower: And I’ve warned the French official in person [note: by certified mail] that the game was rigged. There is a problem. It’s against the European legislation. And he’s turning a blind eye into this.
00;11;47;23 - 00;12;00;23
Victim/whistle-blower: And by turning a blind eye, it’s it’s just like, you know, I don’t know. I don’t know exactly how much he’s getting paid,
00;12;00;23 - 00;12;10;14
Victim/whistle-blower: but I know that in France, these kind of people who give approvals he’s called an “huissier de justice” [note: a judicial/ministerial officer].
00;12;10;14 - 00;12;15;24
Victim/whistle-blower: They sometimes they get paid proportionally to what’s at stake.
00;12;16;13 - 00;12;23;24
Victim/whistle-blower: So considering that there’s lots of money in the McDonald’s Monopoly, it’s, of course,
00;12;24;03 - 00;12;34;00
Victim/whistle-blower: very beneficial for such a French official to approve this game, even though he knows it’s illegal and this is the problem.
00;12;34;00 - 00;12;37;11
Victim/whistle-blower: So the game… what I am accusing McDonald’s of
00;12;37;11 - 00;12;46;23
Victim/whistle-blower: is that they are making a game in Europe, which they clearly know to be illegal and against European legislation.
00;12;49;09 - 00;12;52;05
FBI: Then that country needs to take them to court in that country.
00;12;53;00 - 00;13;07;29
Victim/whistle-blower: At the same time, if there is corruption of a foreign official, I believe that an investigation should be opened at the same time in the United States.
00;13;08;09 - 00;13;21;06
Victim/whistle-blower: Now, for your information, I want to to give you some more information, I did file a criminal complaint with the French prosecutor’s office.
00;13;21;15 - 00;13;25;01
Victim/whistle-blower: I did do that.
FBI: Okay.
Victim/whistle-blower: Okay?
00;13;25;01 - 00;13;33;20
Victim/whistle-blower: But… you know… I’m a French citizen, so I’m kind of embarrassed
00;13;33;20 - 00;13;37;02
Victim/whistle-blower: to tell you this, but the problem is that in France,
00;13;37;20 - 00;13;42;28
Victim/whistle-blower: there is some problem with the legal system, basically,
00;13;43;12 - 00;13;47;05
Victim/whistle-blower: sometimes they don’t take such claims very seriously.
00;13;47;23 - 00;13;52;07
Victim/whistle-blower: They think this way. For example, once I called a policeman and he told me,
00;13;52;20 - 00;13;56;11
Victim/whistle-blower: “Oh, but it’s a big corporation, they have lawyers!”
00;13;56;21 - 00;14;07;10
Victim/whistle-blower: So in the very first, at the very beginning, they don’t even start the investigation. And this is an issue.
00;14;07;10 - 00;14;11;00
Victim/whistle-blower: At the same time, you have to realize that, I understand that,
00;14;11;00 - 00;14;22;25
Victim/whistle-blower: me personally, I was a victim of this fraud and I understand that I should take it, as a personal victim, I should take, the first step I should take is in my country is in France.
00;14;23;04 - 00;14;37;13
Victim/whistle-blower: And I did take this step. But at the same time, I do believe that the FBI should start an investigation because there are other victims in the United States, too.
00;14;37;20 - 00;14;43;08
Victim/whistle-blower: What about the investors, people who invest in McDonald’s stocks in the United States?
[Note: I would also later realize that McDonald’s committed MONEY LAUNDERING]
00;14;43;20 - 00;14;47;16
Victim/whistle-blower: And who don’t know as of this time, because I have checked,
00;14;48;01 - 00;14;59;09
Victim/whistle-blower: McDonald’s should have warned the investor that, the potential investors, that there are legal pending issues in Europe regarding this…
00;15;00;24 - 00;15;13;11
Victim/whistle-blower: I don’t know if I should say game or fraud, I want to say fraud. And by failing to warn the investors, it’s an S.E.C. violation. Do you understand?
00;15;14;10 - 00;15;22;24
FBI: I hear you sir. But I’m not hearing where the FBI would get involved in this. If it’s an S.E.C. violation, then you would report it to the S.E.C.
[Note: Respectfully, I think the FBI is mistaken: both the S.E.C. and the FBI can/should investigate.]
00;15;22;28 - 00;15;37;07
Victim/whistle-blower: I did so. I did report to the S.E.C. But at the same time, on top of there being… you know, when I filed the S.E.C., I filed the S.E.C. complaint on their website they have a whistle-blower website
00;15;37;16 - 00;15;46;22
FBI: Right
Victim/whistle-blower: and they have a section in which they talk about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act…
00;15;47;00 - 00;16;08;00
Victim/whistle-blower: …the S.E.C. can investigate on this matter, but at the same time, the FBI can investigate too. Usually they coordinate the different task force together because the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations are being investigated by the FBI.
00;16;08;22 - 00;16;27;03
Victim/whistle-blower: And right now, I’m accusing basically because I have notified the first the very first time I have notified directly Ms. Santona who is the general counsel of McDonald’s, it was in 2013 and in 2013…
00;16;27;03 - 00;16;39;18
Victim/whistle-blower: I’ve told her very clearly in writing, look, you know, I told her very clearly that I believed this French official had been corrupted one way or another.
00;16;39;27 - 00;16;50;09
Victim/whistle-blower: And there is… the due diligence wants that they should at least investigate and make sure that they are not committing a fraud in Europe,
00;16;51;05 - 00;17;12;12
Victim/whistle-blower: because if the U.S. office knowingly, if they knowingly know that they are committing fraud, in this case, it’s a violation, within the United States, of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Yes!
00;17;12;14 - 00;17;17;28
Victim/whistle-blower: Look, Madam, I can understand you perfectly. You will have cognitive biases too.
00;17;17;28 - 00;17;26;12
Victim/whistle-blower: You will think it’s McDonald’s… They must have a good reason… Most likely I am the one who is mistaken… But I’m telling you, I’m not mistaken here.
00;17;27;14 - 00;17;44;11
Victim/whistle-blower: And I’ll give you an example. I’ve received an email from Ms. Santona, who is general counsel. And later I’ve learned that Ms. Santona gave… requested another person within Europe to handle this case.
00;17;44;24 - 00;17;52;25
Victim/whistle-blower: His name is Malcolm Hicks, and he is the general counsel for McDonald’s Europe, and he works in the United Kingdom.
00;17;53;12 - 00;18;04;13
Victim/whistle-blower: And Malcolm Hicks sent me an email to tell me that he’s going to ask the opinion of a second law firm, and then he will get back to me.
00;18;05;13 - 00;18;12;21
Victim/whistle-blower: This was over a month ago, and he never got back to me. And now he refused to take any or to answer any of my communications.
00;18;13;05 - 00;18;21;12
Victim/whistle-blower: Why do you think the general counsel of McDonald’s Europe first told me he will get back to me and now doesn’t?
00;18;22;07 - 00;18;35;18
Victim/whistle-blower: After he told me that he was going to to get a second opinion from an independent law firm, of course, they know they did something wrong.
00;18;36;03 - 00;18;44;16
Victim/whistle-blower: Have you ever have you ever heard the saying: “don’t talk, you walk”? And this is exactly what they’re doing now: they just keep silent.
00;18;44;16 - 00;18;53;29
Victim/whistle-blower: Otherwise, he would answer me. And I’m telling you, there is something here and there should be an investigation.
00;18;54;24 - 00;19;01;25
FBI: Well, again, sir, I’m not saying that there isn’t anything there, but I don’t see where it would bring the FBI into it.
00;19;02;16 - 00;19;11;11
Victim/whistle-blower: Does the FBI investigate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? if there is a violation.
00;19;12;03 - 00;19;22;22
FBI: I can look into it, sir, and I’ve taken down your contact information. But again, I personally don’t think it’s something that we would get involved in.
00;19;23;19 - 00;19;31;10
FBI: But if it is something that we need additional information from you on, we’ve got your information to contact your back.
00;19;31;10 - 00;19;39;06
Victim/whistle-blower: Yes, but in the very first place, when I filed my initial report, I couldn’t send all of the documentation.
00;19;39;18 - 00;19;47;00
Victim/whistle-blower: maybe you do need the documentations [note: the evidence] I have to understand fully, don’t you? Because…
00;19;47;00 - 00;19;54;06
FBI: sir, If you’re wanting to provide hear me out, sir, the only way you’re going to be able to provide those documentations is by mail.
00;19;55;00 - 00;20;05;02
FBI: We don’t have a way to forward information. We have to protect our systems. We don’t accept forwarded documents over the computer.
[EDITED/REDACTED, FBI CHICAGO WILL THEN GIVE ME THEIR MAILING ADDRESS IN THE UNITED STATES. BUT I BELIEVE THEY MADE A MISTAKE: THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN ME THE ADDRESS OF THE CLOSEST FBI FIELD OFFICE FROM WHERE I WAS THEN LIVING, THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME TO SEND THE EVIDENCE TO FBI FIELD OFFICE LOCATED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY IN CHINA, WHICH IS LOCATED IN BEIJING.]
Most of my communications sent to the F.B.I. can be consulted at:
https://www.Federal-Bureau-of-Investigation.com/open-letters/
To gain a clearer understanding of the sequence of events in this case, I invite you to view a detailed timeline at the following link:
https://www.ECTHRwatch.org/timeline/mcdonalds/
This timeline provides a comprehensive overview of the key milestones and developments.
