Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 465 - 329 The Storm is Brewing (2)

Late at night, a northbound train roared as it entered a tunnel.

Signal reception is poor in mountainous areas, and even worse in tunnels, so Lin Chunsheng’s mobile phone had been out of service.

Even if there had been a signal, he wouldn’t have been able to use his phone.

His mobile phone was confiscated this morning in Shenzhen and currently, he’s being handcuffed in the train compartment, undergoing interrogation by the joint Special Task Force.

The escort duty was assigned to Old Li, an instructor from the Four Factory Police Station under Linghai Police Bureau. While escorting the three swindlers, it was crucial to interrogate them rigorously before dawn, to pry their mouths open and find out how much they had illegally profited over the years and where the illicit funds were stashed.

Considering the inconvenience of conducting the interrogation in a hard-seat compartment, following Director Li’s instructions, Old Li spoke with the train conductor and the head of onboard police as soon as he boarded, and spent a few extra hundred yuan to arrange for the interrogation to take place in the train staff’s rest compartment.

Lin was initially very stubborn, refusing to speak under any questioning.

Perhaps as the train moved further away from Guangzhou, he grew increasingly uneasy, and his attitude softened compared to when he first boarded.

Old Li didn’t want to waste any more time with verbal sparring, he reminded Lin, "Lin Chunsheng, if you don’t confess, others will. You know our policy well – whoever confesses first, acts proactively. Decide if you want to be passive or proactive, think carefully."

Lin Chunsheng was well aware that the two cuffed at the end of the compartment were likely unable to hold out, and the several hundreds of thousands in the school account would probably not be saved. He was considering confessing something minor when a police officer quickly approached Old Li and whispered something in Linghai dialect.

Old Li laughed, sat down and asked with a smile, "Lin Chunsheng, were you planning to expand your fraud schemes by buying land to build school buildings?"

"I did not commit fraud, I was running a school. Buying land to build new campuses to expand the scale of education was in response to the call from the City Committee and Municipal Government; our city leaders all know and fully support this."

"At this point, you’re still hoping for the best. I can tell you with responsibility that the things you’ve done might not be pursued in Gaozhou. But elsewhere, especially in Jiangnan Province, your actions are considered fraud, and those leaders from your place definitely won’t be able to save you."

"..."

Lin Chunsheng was speechless; after all, as Old Li said, once out of Gaozhou, he was like meat on the chopping board, subject to others’ whims.

Moreover, it wasn’t just about leaving Gaozhou; they had already left East Guang.

If it’s fraud, then so be it. How many years could that carry? As long as the money is safe, once out, there would still be a chance to rise again in Dongshan. Even if he stopped doing anything, the money would be enough for him and even his children to spend.

While he was reassuring himself, Old Li glanced sideways at his subordinate making the record and mentioned casually, "Looks like you’re determined to break the pot if it’s already cracked. Well, since you prefer money over your life, no need to confess then. With the evidence we already have, we can still send you to the execution ground."

"What?"

"Send you to the execution ground."

"You want to sentence me to death!"

"We are police, only responsible for investigation, we can’t sentence you to death, but the court might. Didn’t expect the box meals on the train are quite good, especially the chicken legs they sell at night, quite tasty. If you want, there’s still one left over there, you might not get a chance to eat it otherwise."

Lin Chunsheng was startled, urgently asking, "What do you mean, why would you sentence me to death?"

So you’re afraid of death.

That makes things easier.

Old Li unscrewed the lid of his teacup, took a small sip, and smiled as he asked, "In order to buy land for the new school campus, didn’t you pull people to invest by promising them dividends once the new campus was built and the fraud scale expanded?"

"We operated privately-run schooling because there wasn’t enough funding and we had to raise funds from the society."

"What private schooling, you’ve been committing fraud. If it was just ordinary fraud initially, as the illegal fundraising activities got confirmed, you’ve elevated from ordinary fraud to fundraising fraud."

Old Li put down his tea cup, seizing the momentum to press further, "Based on the evidence previously gathered, you should serve between three to ten years, considering the huge amount defrauded and the severe impact, and especially now during the crackdown, you’re definitely facing a heavy sentencing like ten years.

But fundraising fraud is different, the more the illegally raised money, the heavier the sentence. These years, there are not a few sentenced to death for fundraising fraud – just from those I know of, there are more than a dozen. So, eat up while you have the chance, otherwise, you really might not get a chance later."

"I...I..."

"What ’I,’ relax, it’s just the cutting off of a bowling alley-sized scar."

The involvement of three police bureaus from two provinces and cities along with the Changhang Navigation Police under the Ministry of Transport was indeed frightening.

Lin Chunsheng realized these police officers sought to ruin him. Having left Gaozhou, it felt like neither heaven nor earth would respond to his calls, instantly terrified to his soul’s core, trembling as he said, "Police Officer Li, I want to see Captain Han."

"He’s on his way to arrest your wife and mistress; even if you want to see him, it wouldn’t be until half a month later."

"I want to call him!"

"There’s no signal here, and besides, it’s expensive to make a call. If you have something to say, you can tell me."

"Police Officer Li, I was wrong, please please convey to Captain Han, I really didn’t commit fundraising fraud, if it’s about money, I’ll tell you where it is, just don’t sentence me to death..."

"We don’t want your money; we’re not bandits, we’re here to retrieve the illicit money."

"Right, right, I will surrender all the illicit money."

"That’s more like it." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

After speaking, Lin Chunsheng felt a pang of regret, but considering his current situation, he steeled his heart and said, "Police Officer Li, it was my inability to recognize the importance that led me to offend Captain Han, but you can’t treat me like this."