CHAPTER 497: CHAPTER 347: THE RICE IS COOKED

Some things can be hidden temporarily, but not for too long.

For example, the freezing of the assets of the persons in charge of two ship service companies involved in the case requires procedures to be issued by the Changhang Bureau, and these procedures require the signature of the director.

Sister Liu, who stayed behind in Binjiang, prepared the procedures and knocked on the door of Director He’s office.

Director He took the procedures, thought he saw them wrong, and was stunned for a while before he asked in astonishment, "6.78 million, is there a mistake?"

"No, I couldn’t believe it at first myself, but after repeatedly confirming with Xiao Han, Director Jiang, and Director Shen, they said there’s no mistake."

"How come there is so much? Is all this illicit money?"

"It should be; I’m not too clear about the specifics either. Shall we call Xiao Han and Director Jiang to ask?"

"You wait here, let me make a call."

"Alright."

"Go and call the Political Commissioner."

"Yes!"

Salted Fish’s spouse and Old Jiang were investigating a fake certificate case, weren’t they? Even if a set of fake certificates could sell for a thousand, to gain over six million in illegal profit, how many fake certificates would need to be sold...

Director He had never seen so much money and was truly shocked, so he picked up the phone and hurriedly contacted Old Jiang. Not sure if Old Jiang’s phone was out of battery, the voice prompt indicated it was out of the service area.

He had no choice but to settle for the next best thing, opened the drawer to take out the phone book, searched for three to four minutes, and finally found the mobile number that Han Xiangning had left last time she was here.

At this moment, Political Commissioner Jiang walked in: "Director He, what’s the matter?"

"Old Jiang, take a look at this first."

Director He handed the procedures Sister Liu had just brought for signature to Political Commissioner Jiang and continued to dial the phone.

Political Commissioner Jiang took it over, was equally stunned, and stared at Director He, at a loss for words.

"Xiao Han, it’s He Bin from the Changhang Bureau. I just saw your request to freeze the assets of the involved companies, 6.78 million; how come there is so much?"

"Director He, here’s the thing..."

Knowing it couldn’t be kept secret for long, Han Xiangning held back a smile and reported the case details one by one.

Director He broadly understood and was so excited he couldn’t contain himself, laughing while clutching the phone, "So it turns out they weren’t just producing and trafficking fake certificates, they also used the fake certificates to lure seafarers to sign up for their illegal maritime crew training, and then to sit the exams, using the fake certificates to obtain real ones, before referring the crew members to ships."

"Yes, it’s because they profited illegally at every link, which is why the amount involved is relatively large."

"Have all the persons involved been arrested?"

"They have all been arrested; the three from Hui’an, Xijiang, and Yangzhou were captured yesterday and are currently being escorted back to Linghai."

Han Xiangning had just arrived in Hui’an provincial capital, planning to rest for the day, and go to Bubang early the next morning.

She took a small sip of the freshly boiled water, comfortably lying on the hotel’s big bed, then said: "At this stage, for the two ship service companies using fake certificates, we are freezing their illegal income first without extraditing them back yet."

"Why not arrest them and bring them back? With such a large amount involved, it’s definitely enough to pursue their criminal responsibility. What if they run away?"

"They have big family businesses, they can’t run away. They have local backgrounds and connections; some people are pleading for them, and they are all from within the system. Considering the need for their cooperation in collecting evidence later on, Director Jiang decided to grant them bail pending trial."

"What about the illegal proceeds?"

"Of course, the money will be frozen. It’s given so much importance by the superiors, anything that should be confiscated must be confiscated, anything that must be forfeited will certainly be forfeited."

"That’s good. I’ll inform the finance department to set up a special funds account; anything that can be frozen should be frozen first, and what doesn’t need to be frozen will be deposited into the special funds account."

Now the case has turned into one for the Changhang Bureau.

Han Xiangning doesn’t wish for the hard-earned funds to be in vain, and says candidly, "Director He, Salted Fish was planning to build a new ship in ten years mainly because of a lack of funds. They wanted to save enough money over ten years to build it. Now that there’s money, there’s no need to wait another ten years."

Six hundred and seventy-eight thousand were obtained just from those two ship service companies, and combined with the ill-gotten money seized from counterfeit certificate traffickers like Zhang Guoqiang and others, there must be seven million in total.

Turning in thirty percent to the Changhang Police Bureau, the bureau side still has nearly five million.

The bureau, having been at the mercy of others for decades, even without its own office facilities, nearly five million could accomplish so much!

Like asking the Port Authority for a piece of land and building your own office building.

Or like adding a few police vehicles, even considering building a dormitory building.

Director He was not interested in building a new ship and chuckled, "Xiao Han, isn’t 001 still usable for another decade? You’re a family member of our bureau, and you are well aware of the situation at the bureau. Even if we start building now, there are not so many officers who can sail and understand engine operations."

Han Xiangning had already thought about how to respond and had even discussed it with Sister Zhu. She sat up and said: "Director He, 001 belongs to our Port Supervision Bureau, not to your bureau. Our bureau urgently needs vessels that can perform rescue and firefighting tasks. Director Zhu said, once Salted Fish’s new ship is built, we will transfer 001 to the Water Rescue Center."

"You can’t do this, isn’t that like ditching after crossing the river?"

"There’s no ditching after crossing. Lending 001 to Salted Fish was only temporary."

"But it doesn’t take four to five million to build a new ship."

"Who says so?"

Han Xiangning countered, speaking earnestly, "Nowadays everything’s getting more expensive, it’s not cheap to build a new ship. And what we want to build is a Law Enforcement Rescue Boat, not a regular ship, which will be more costly. I estimate four to five million might not be enough."

Director He asked in a low voice, "What kind of ship is that expensive?"

"To build a new Law Enforcement Rescue Boat, it definitely needs to be able to tow large-tonnage cargo ships, to be equipped with the most advanced firefighting system, and the electronic equipment should also be top-notch. Both of the harbor tugs in Binjiang Port cost over six million each. To build a Law Enforcement Rescue Boat that has a similar power to the harbor tugs but with fuller functions and more advanced electronic equipment, four to five million will certainly not be enough."