Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 24 - 22: The Amount of Money Involved is Huge

Han Yu stared blankly for a moment, then put down the parts in his hand: "We have no leads, and those people don't deal in Foreign Exchange Certificates in our jurisdiction."

The people from the Four Factory Grain Station couldn't stand others doing well; seeing that there was grain being collected here, they always caused trouble, avarice ever present in their hearts.

There's a policy from above, and a countermeasure from below.

It was stated in the People's Daily that long-distance grain trafficking is not considered speculation, but who knows whether those below pay any attention to it or might sensationalize the issue and label you as a speculator.

Huang Jiangsheng urgently needed a powerful "backer" and felt that helping Yanjiang Police Station was helping himself, he asked in a low voice: "What if those people pass through Bailong Port."

"As long as they pass through our jurisdiction, and there is evidence, then we should be able to catch them."

"They really might pass through Bailong Port, and if we catch them, we will surely find evidence!"

"Brother Huang, what do you mean by that?"

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"I've told you before, I met them once on a boat, had a chat with them and even left them with my contact information."

Xu Sanye had said to always stay alert for clues to crimes...

Han Yu became interested at once, wiped his hands clean, and asked: "You have their contact information?"

"I don't have theirs, but they have mine."

"They have yours?"

"They deal in Foreign Exchange Certificates, and after they get them, they need to exchange them at a high price in East Sea. It's harder to buy boat tickets on the Binjiang side than at Bailong Port, they know I do small business here and took my phone number, said they'd ask me to help buy boat tickets next time they return."

"You have a phone?"

"I don't have a phone, I gave them the phone number of Manager Wu's office."

"Have they contacted you?"

"Not yet."

Either foreign exchange certificates are not exchanged, or a huge amount is exchanged at once.

Because of his young age and short stature, he was always looked down upon; he could only wear women's uniforms...

Han Yu felt the need to perform well to show the leaders and colleagues a thing or two!

"Brother Huang, there are rewards for reporting; if you help me keep an eye out and we really catch those criminals dealing in Foreign Exchange Certificates, I'll ask Director Xu to fight for your reward."

Huang Jiangsheng knew he would be interested and patted his shoulder: "What's our relationship? Forget about the reward, just give me a bit more attention in the future."

...

After dark, work ended, and they returned home.

Upon entering the station, he was surprised to see more than a dozen people standing in the courtyard.

All faces he recognized, clearly from superior units, each one looking worried, occasionally glancing stealthily into the offices of the Director, the instructor, and Old Zhang.

Han Yu realized Xu Sanye and the others were working the night shift, knocked on the door to say he was back, and quickly went upstairs to make dinner.

By the time dinner was ready, a bath taken and clean clothes put on, he had waited nearly an hour without Xu Sanye and others being able to join the meal.

It wasn't until the last person who surrendered finished their statement that the three walked into the reception room, rubbing their wrists.

"Director Xu, you guys rest a moment, I'll go heat up the dishes."

"No need to heat them up, let's eat them like this."

"Yeah, no need for so much trouble, plus the rice is still warm."

"Alright then, I'll serve the rice."

Xu Sanye was really hungry, picked up the chopsticks, took a bite of the food, and said with a smile: "Old Li, Old Zhang, Wu Ren Guang said over the phone this afternoon that the attitudes of those twenty-six main culprits are better than one another."

Li Weiguo took a bowl of rice from Han Yu with a listless tone: "The records for indicting those main culprits for ticket scalping average more than one hundred and eighty per person.

If it were just one traveler, they might have been wronged. But now, it's not just one; could it be that nearly two hundred travelers would all wrong them?"

"Yes, they couldn't deny it if they wanted to. How could their attitudes not be good?"

Thinking of the previous work done, Old Zhang sighed again: "Criminal Investigation has the easy job, picking up such a bargain."

Taking care of the old unit, the colleagues and subordinates of the new unit might have thoughts.

But in the station, there were only three police officers capable of handling cases, they couldn't even keep up with public security cases, let alone criminal ones.

Xu Sanye took a sip of soup with a spoon and laughed: "Their side is also busy, after going back they called in more than a dozen police officers from the Southern City, East City, and a few other police stations. Right now, they're at the Four Factory Police Station, helping to go to the suspect's homes to seize the illicit money."

"Are they working through the night?"

"With that much work, it's not just for tonight, I reckon they'll have to pull several all-nighters."

Han Yu sat down and asked curiously, "Director Xu, instructor, have all the people who surrendered in the afternoon been dealt with?"

"Not yet."

Xu Sanye finished the food in his mouth and explained: "Today, there are actually more than forty people who surrendered, but who knows if they are downplaying their guilt.

This afternoon was mainly about interrogating them and recording their statements. Once we have questioned more people, and the interrogation results from the Criminal Investigation team are out, we can cross-reference them with their testimonies."

Han Yu pursued: "So when will they be dealt with?"

Xu Sanye smiled and said: "Let them go back for self-reflection, they will be dealt with within fifteen days."

Li Weiguo and Old Liu from Bailong Port Police Station boarded the ship together for ten days and had formed a deep friendship.

Thinking of the substantial efforts made by the Bailong Port Police Station this time, Li Weiguo pondered and said, "Director Xu, the Bailong Port Police Station has also done a lot of work, and since we need to interact with them long-term, we can't sweep them aside after wrapping up the case."

"I've thought of that as well," he replied. "We must be generous and not hog all the credit. When I spoke to Wu Ren Guang on the phone this afternoon, I specifically discussed this matter with him."

"What did Wu Ren Guang say?"

"What else can he say? Of course, he'll listen to me."

Xu Sanye grinned and said nonchalantly, "The retrieved fines from criminal cases will be divided equally among the three; for public security cases, we will split them evenly with the Bailong Port Police Station."

True to Xu Sanye's form, he is magnanimous in handling matters as long as he is respected.

Li Weiguo internally praised him and smiled, saying, "Since they'll have their share, we don't need to work so hard. Tomorrow we can ask them to send a couple of police to join the subsequent investigation."

"Alright, I'll call Zhang Junyan later."

"Director Xu, there's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"When collecting evidence, many passengers asked if they could recoup some of their losses. At the time, we dared not guarantee anything, only saying we'd do our best."

Xu Sanye weighed the situation and then looked up, "Since we've promised the public, once we retrieve the illicit funds, we'll go to the post office and wire the money to them. But we should deduct the handling fee, and it would be best to send a letter with the wire so they understand what the money is for."

He's so eager to repair the ship that he's actually willing to return the recovered money to the public.

But we could only contact those travelers who had been on the ship identifying the ticket scalpers over the last ten days; it was impossible to find the others from before.

Li Weiguo realized this and couldn't help but smile, "That would be great, although it's quite a bit of work."

Helping the public recover losses is what makes our achievements feel worthwhile!

Han Yu couldn't help but interject, "Commander Li, actually, wiring money and sending letters isn't that troublesome."

Li Weiguo laughed, "I'm not talking about wiring money and sending letters. I'm talking about the letters themselves—think about how many we have to write!"

"We could think of what to say to the public first, then print out a few thousand copies and simply fill in the names and stamp our seal."

"Salted Fish has a good idea, Old Li, let's do it that way."

Xu Sanye thought for a moment, then added, "Later, compile a list of names along with addresses for the money transfers and letter sending, fill in the names, and submit it all at once to the post office to ask them to transfer the funds and send out the letters, all according to the information we provide."

Old Zhang laughed and said, "It's going to be a few tens of thousands to return."

"Old Zhang, do you know how much the preliminarily estimated amount involved in the case is by the criminal investigation team?"

"How much?"

"Over 3.7 million."

"That much!"

"The ticket scalpers sold at least four hundred tickets a day, which made five to six thousand in illicit money a day. Think about how much that would be over a year."

"A massive case!"

"You're just realizing that now?"

Xu Sanye put down his chopsticks and smiled, "Director Yang also called me this afternoon, asking if I could contact the leaders of Binjiang Port Police through Zhang Junyan. He plans to call Old Ge from the Transportation Bureau to hold a meeting with the leaders of Binjiang Port Police."

Li Weiguo asked curiously, "What's the meeting for?"

"Now that we've wrapped up the case, he still wants to join the excitement. He's going to hold a joint meeting with the Transportation Bureau and Binjiang Port Police to fight against ticket scalping. Who knows, maybe the three parties will even joinly issue a public announcement, typical of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted."

"Director Xu, the leaders have their own considerations."

"What's there for him to consider? Isn't he just focused on how to be bureaucratic?"

Xu Sanye scoffed, then changed the topic: "I was planning to find an excuse to decline, but then he mentioned it was a major case and that a special task force for the 9.17 Major Ticket Scalping Case was to be formed.

Whether or not I become the team leader doesn't matter. The main thing is that once the case is closed, merits and awards will be given out. Since our police station is newly established, we cannot forego the honors, so I agreed."

Li Weiguo was nearing retirement and didn't care much for honors, so he smiled and said, "Xiao Han, the evidence you gathered over those ten days wasn't in vain. When the time comes, let's strive for an award for you."

"An award, you must be joking!"

Xu Sanye knocked on the table, boldly asserting, "We stuffed a truck with the records we compiled while tracing leads. The case involves over 3 million, and a thorough investigation might reveal more than 4 million.

After so much work and with such significant results, at the very least we should receive a collective Second-class Merit, and the participating police should get individual third-level merits."

It might be possible just considering the involved amount, but this was a crackdown on ticket scalping.

Li Weiguo felt that a collective Second-class Merit and individual third-level merits were unlikely, but he still said with a smile, "No matter how the superiors will judge in the end, as long as we receive some honor, that's what counts. Isn't that what we're here for in our line of work?"

With rising prices, the superiors are demanding a crackdown on speculation.

The Yanjiang Police Station's crackdown on ticket scalpers is an absolute highlight!

Confident of receiving the collective Second-class Merit, Xu Sanye chuckled, "Old Li, about finding someone to cook that you mentioned this morning, I've already asked Old Ding to look for someone. He's recommended someone who can start anytime."

"Who did he recommend?"

"His surname is Qian, named Qian Dafu; he's a retired soldier, an old Party member who participated in the Korean War. He used to cook for the Four Factory Cooperative Society and is now retired. He lives not far from here, and Old Zhang surely knows him."

Old Zhang looked up and said, "Old Qian, huh? It's fine to have Old Qian cook; he's reliable, diligent, his culinary skills are good, and he's an old bachelor so he can live in the station."

Xu Sanye smiled and lifted his arm to point towards the door, "I'm planning to build a reception room right at the entrance and construct a kitchen by the river. Building two rooms won't cost much."

There are currently four police officers in the station, but surely there will be more in the future.

Once there are more people, the current rooms will definitely not be enough.

Li Weiguo nodded, "That sounds good, we don't need to wait on that. We can start talking to bricklayers tomorrow."