Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 469 - 331: Showdown!_2

Chief Dai straightforwardly went with the flow and handed the "big brother" to Director Li.

"Director Li, I don’t care how many of you are in a coalition, I only know that you have wrongly categorized the case. In fact, it doesn’t count as a case at all!"

"Mayor Wang, whether it counts as fraud or not isn’t up to us to decide, but up to the legal pre-review."

"What legal pre-review. I admit that Huayuan indeed has some problems in enrollment and teaching, but these are issues in development. Private education is societal education, which requires the support and even participation of the entire society. This is encouraged and advocated by the state. Don’t you understand the state’s major policy directives on education?"

"They are not running a school, but have been thinking of how to make money off students from the start. We have solid evidence, and several of the main offenders have confessed without denial. This is an undisputed case of fraud!"

"I know you have countless reasons in your mind supporting this idea, but I can tell you clearly, in Gaozhou, in our East Guang, this is not considered fraud."

"What is it then?"

"Since when did running a school for profit become fraud? It is clearly written in the documents that private education can earn reasonable returns. Who would engage in something with no reward? Without incentives, how can private education develop? Besides, what’s wrong if someone earns some money? We can’t be jealous; we should allow some people to get wealthy first."

Vice Mayor Wang, angered and pale, clenched his cellphone and emphasized, "Education reform is still a reform, and reforms mean crossing the river by feeling the stones. Have you learned the spirit of the Southern Tour speeches? Friend Xiaoping said not to be afraid of making mistakes. We should first consider being bold, not being preoccupied with whether we’re making mistakes or not.

It’s not terrible to identify problems; what’s important is to rectify them quickly. I had a discussion meeting with Mayor Jiang yesterday, where I clearly showed my attitude, that we need to be responsible for students and make rectifications. What does rectification mean? It means solving problems, addressing these development-related issues."

You talk to him about the law; he talks to you about politics.

For a moment, Director Li was at a loss for words and instinctively looked towards Han Yu.

"You just said it’s fraud over there, I’m saying it’s not here. This isn’t about protecting local interests, but Friend Xiaoping’s call for us East Guang to lead the way in the reform and opening-up movement. We shouldn’t be arguing. We need to try boldly and break new grounds!"

"I can also tell you clearly, developing vocational education and training technical workers for places like Shenzhen is not only an agenda of our City Committee and City Government but is also supported by the province. But look at you, always quick to accuse others of fraud. If everyone were like you, should we still proceed with the reforms or the opening-up?"

Can you believe it, he turned investigating a fraud case into an impediment to reform and opening-up.

Director Li was dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond.

Han Yu touched the corner of his mouth as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Vice Mayor Wang persisted, "The problems Huayuan has revealed during its development may seem illegal or non-compliant to you, but we must consider the issue of legal lag.

Not to change the subject, but let’s talk about speculation and profiteering. It’s still written in the Criminal Law, but if we really followed those statutes, everyone in trade and business should be arrested, and those running trading companies should be executed for buying and selling. Therefore, we must not only talk about the law but politics as well."

Director Zheng listened clearly and secretly admired the high level of city leadership.

Chief Dai thoughtfully held his teacup.

Huang Wenhua stared at Han Yu, not believing that the Jiangnan colleague would be fooled by a few words from Vice Mayor Wang.

Director Li realized he couldn’t remain silent any longer, mustered his courage and said, "Mayor Wang, I am public security police, and my duty is to combat illegal and criminal activities, and this case involves more than just the Linghai Police Bureau, so we definitely need to take the people involved back with us."

"So, you’re determined that Huayuan has committed crimes?"

"It’s not about determination; they indeed have engaged in illegal and criminal activities."

"Well then, let our Gaozhou City Police Bureau handle this case!"

"We’ve already started an investigation."

"Since you’ve started, you can transfer the case. How much have you spent on investigating this case? I’ll let our Gaozhou City Police Bureau reimburse you."

Under no circumstances can they let the suspects leave, nor can Huayuan’s funds be confiscated, otherwise all vocational schools in the city will panic, stalling the future development of vocational education.

Vice Mayor Wang, recalling the instructions from the superiors, continued, "Actually, I also understand law. I know how police handle cases, and since Huayuan is based in our Gaozhou, regardless of the issues it might have, it should be up to our Gaozhou City Police Bureau to initiate the investigation!"

Director Li took a deep breath and said with neither humility nor arrogance, "Sorry, but at this stage of the investigation, we cannot hand over the case. Otherwise, we would not be able to explain ourselves to both superiors and subordinates."

Deputy Mayor Wang snorted coldly and said angrily, "Lin Chunsheng is not only the principal of Huayuan but also a cadre in Gaozhou City with a suspended payment leave. You arrested Lin Chunsheng without notifying us. This morning, your people ran to the school to make arrests, disturbing the academic order and bringing a severely adverse impact on Gaozhou. Shouldn’t you give an explanation to the Gaozhou Municipal Committee and Municipal Government!"

How dare you encourage fraud and still have the face to ask us for explanations?

Director Li was so angry he felt itchy in his teeth, but couldn’t do much on someone else’s turf.

Han Yu couldn’t stand it anymore, took over the phone and said, "Hello Mayor Wang, I am Han Yu from Changhang Public Security Bureau Binjiang Branch, in charge of the investigation on the Huayuan fraud case."

"Is that Han Yu? Did you hear what I just said?"

"I did."

Han Yu wouldn’t give him the chance to lecture, and said lightly, "Mayor Wang, there are three situations we haven’t had the time to report."

Deputy Mayor Wang asked subconsciously, "What are they?"

"The first situation is that the number of victims from our side is far more than the ones reported this morning. We didn’t report it because we didn’t want to complicate matters further since those were not deceived by Huayuan but by a few other vocational training institutions in Gaozhou."

What do you mean, you want to expand the scope of the crackdown?

Just as Deputy Mayor Wang was thinking about how to respond, Han Yu continued, "The second situation is that after the arrest of Lin Chunsheng and other prime suspects, seeking leniency, they reported over a hundred and fifty leads on other vocational training institutions suspected of fraud."

Lin has gone mad, isn’t this handing over leverage to others?

Deputy Mayor Wang was stunned, and Chief Dai, Director Zheng, and Huang Wenhua were flabbergasted.

Han Yu smiled and added, "The third situation is rather sensitive. While Lin Chunsheng reported on illegal and criminal leads, he also exposed a few Gaozhou officials who might be involved in disciplinary issues, mainly connected to educational operations. We are preparing to report these according to regulations to our superiors so that they can transfer the leads to the relevant departments in East Guang Province."

Indeed, there was a card up his sleeve.

The situation is clear now; if you force them to transfer the case, they will expand the scope of the investigation. If you don’t cooperate or support their efforts to "recover the stolen goods," they will use it as an entry point to help you find a nest of related cases.

"Comrade Han Yu, have you considered what will happen to the many students at Huayuan after you arrested Lin Hexiang and the others?"

"Mayor Wang, I am just a public security police officer, post-event matters are not for me to consider."

"So you insist on arresting and investigating?"

"Absolutely."

"This is a major issue; I need to report it to the City Committee."

"Mayor Wang, we have already arrested the necessary individuals; we are not in a hurry."

Han Yu hung up the phone and handed the "big brother" cell phone back to Director Li, about to drink some water when Huang Wenhua unexpectedly remarked, "Captain Han, you’re forcing our city leaders to sacrifice the pawn to save the chariot."

"I think it’s the best outcome," Han Yu smiled, picked up his cup and looked at Chief Dai.

Chief Dai isn’t just the Police Chief; he is also a member of the city party committee. In such a situation, he naturally has to consider what is best for the city, and sacrificing the pawn to save the chariot seems indeed the best immediate solution.

After all, Lin was too uncooperative and not worth the city’s protection.

But now the issue is, the city might not agree; you can imagine how the main leaders in the city might perceive it as excessive when external police come to make arrests, and blackmailing the city even worse.

Thinking about this, he couldn’t be more frustrated because, as a Police Chief, he would be caught in an uncomfortable position between two difficult choices.