Karl Marx noticed that there is no crime that would not go to the capitalist for three hundred percent of the profits — even under pain of the gallows. In the Soviet Union of Lenin attributed the poisonous remark (or rather, apocryphal) that the capitalists themselves will sell the rope with which the Bolsheviks will hang. The pages of this beautiful story of times of waste of the Cold war will serve as an excellent illustration to the thoughts of the great classics.

In the late 1970-ies of the employee communications Center of the Navy of the USA John Walker, the key Soviet agent in the West, gave the alarming information. In the composition of the acoustic signature, which the Americans identified the Soviet boats, they emphasized the hum of propellers. Because of cavitation at cut water roughly treated blades are formed of the void-bubbles, which collapse and make noise.

In October 1979 in Moscow, dressed in civilian clothes, the employees of Soviet firms "Tekhmashimport" approached the Japanese Hitori Kumagai (aka Kazuo Kumagai), the employee of the Moscow branch of the trading company "Waco Koeki".

For some reason it is regularly overlooked, and yet in the history of the sharashka and hiding the true extent shameless Japanese mafia. "Waco Koeki" created in the early 1950-ies. It was a typical "political strip" to work in the Communist bloc (first in China, then the Soviet Union). "Vacay," was "Marubeni" — one of the so-called "Sogo yourself" (giant Japanese concerns-traders all in a row, from socks and detergent to the radio equipment and machines).

"Techmashimport" in the same jackets ox twirl did not. "Tell us, Hitori, a favorite of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, is it possible somehow to buy this piece of junk?" and poked the catalogue "Toshiba Machines," straight to the metal center dewaterability MBP-110. "Did you — did Kumagai — and therefore, personally you probably can."

A piece of iron was, of course, are still the 220-ton colossus with a height of a three story house. They could handle a workpiece up to 11 meters in diameter.

"Vukovci", scenting baksheesh, rushed to the "Toshiba" and demanded a Commission fee for intermediation with "respectable people" in Moscow. They agreed, and even signed a brokerage service deal second "Sogo yourself" — "Itochu". Well, nobody guessed, and then you never know.

You cannot just take and take incriminating machines in the USSR, therefore, the international speculators cheerfully forged papers: I wrote that they sell on the civilian electrical production in Leningrad vertical lathes TDP 70/110 with two independent axles and such through a sieve Cook missed. The Norwegian controllers generally called "parts".

Officials of the regulatory agencies famously signed the papers, not checking (why, who knows? — Yes always do!) and in December 1983 on the territory of the Leningrad Baltic factory has collected the first two centers. By the end of 1984 the whole complex from.

Delivery direct, no re-export all open. Officials show one contract (fraudulent), and they themselves in the second — with all the specifications. Specialists from both firms come to the commissioning of equipment to the Union as a job, Soviet engineers for advice on plants "Toshiba". Childhood pure eyes.

Citizen Kumagai four years as a dad Carlo was wound here and there, accompanying the deal of the century, and are already anticipating a steep personal nishtyaki. But in early 1985 he suddenly found out that their own leaders shot it with the promised promotion and then terminated the contract.

No, and that this, think of a man 22 years had worked in the illegal export around the red block, including 10 years directly in the Union...

Then Kumagai tried to negotiate a "bad" demanded a fat severance package, promising otherwise to put all the thieves in the raspberries Cook. I think he got something? Or have begun to understand how the Japanese do business?

In April 1985, Kumagai put on the cold.

Then began shaped Kafka. Kumagai filed a statement to the Tokyo police. He was adopted and... I forgot. "Ah, Ah?!" — sharilsya dismissed, and in December 1985, the giant dashed off a cart in Paris, in the headquarters of the Cook, which outlined the basic circumstances of the case (names, entities, dates, specifications), and at the same time opened his eyes to topics which taxiing in the Union.

The paper is kicked out in Tokyo, of the Japanese Ministry of industry and trade. Those called Toshiba and Itochu, and then it was like a joke: "You acknowledge your guilt? — No. — No court no." What? To Interrogate Kumagai? Yeah well, you never know what anonymous leaflets ponapishut...

"Well, well!" thought Kumagai and went with papers to the American Embassy. In mid-1986 in Japan appealed from the office of the President of the United States. "Well?" — meekly asked from the ocean. "Don't know" — with a wooden face said in Tokyo. Such appeals from the United States was more than forty. To all came the same answer: it's all lies and provocation.

In January 1987, Washington went on the other side: Norway. It was somewhat easier: the government has shaken public "Kongsberg", found paper and posedev horror, laid the whole farm to the Americans. March 24, U.S. Deputy Secretary of state ed Derwinski met with Japanese diplomats expressed their deepest concern and hinted at the severity of the consequences for bilateral relations.

Estimates were approximate, but the noise in Congress was terrible.

Only then in the case including Prime Minister Nakasone, and noble warriors in Tokyo stopped abruptly blunt. April 30 Japanese security forces conducted a seizure of documents at the head office of "Toshiba" and suddenly found traces of fraud with the machines. "Brim has filled two rooms with papers in the case", commented they were then.

That is characteristic: when the head of one of tochilovsky plants received in the early 1980s, an order for MBP-110 for the Soviet Union, he drew the attention of the leadership of the COCOM restrictions. The elders of the Corporation kindly recommend a colleague to shut up and do their job "faster and better".

"Toshiba Machine" banned trade with the Communist countries for a year and fined one hundred million dollars (twelve percent of annual sales units). Itochu escaped with a three-month ban to trade with the Communists.

The easiest way did the Norwegians: they shook up the group "Kongsberg", has left myself to purely military production, and the rest sold to private traders. The Americans adopted the law "About the bestial nature of all tupyaschemu without a team", which introduced a three-year sanctions on the import of products "Toshiba Machine" and "Kongsberg" in the United States. "Toshiba" before that I spent a hundred million dollars on lobbying and cleaning its image in the US, but not too successful: sanctions imposed anyway (although threatened to do their five-year and close imports of all products of the group, not just engineering companies).

The USSR and Japan severely exchanged a few series of sent "espionage" diplomats and trade representatives. Americans in 1988, has spent 113 million dollars on "in-depth development in the field of underwater technology, necessary in the context of a revealed scandal "Toshiba — Kongsberg".

Information about "dramatic" reduction of noise of Soviet submarines third generation, built in the second half of the 1980-ies and later, it is easy to find in the literature.

Although the boat is still behind the us, the gap in characteristics has decreased significantly. Of course, it wasn't just the screws, turn the black machines, but in the scientifically grounded complex of measures to ensure malosolenoj on new nuclear submarines.

A little more involved in the fate of Kumagai would solve the problem and about the Scam, perhaps no one would have known. Instead, get a top case for textbooks: how to get to the big money and give the world a free master class in God's dew, and the new gate.