Taek-gyu, having willingly re-entered the Dungeon of MLM, said to Hong Chang-soo and Min Ha-young, “After listening to the explanation that day, I just had a feeling. Is it possible to buy even more than 1 billion won worth?”
Hong Chang-soo asked, “How much more are you thinking?”
“About this much.” Taek-gyu showed them his account balance on his smartphone.
Seeing it, Min Ha-young and Hong Chang-soo were stunned and their mouths dropped open. This was because the number of zeros had increased by one compared to last time.
Hong Chang-soo gasped for air. “O-one hundred billion!”
Min Ha-young looked at Taek-gyu with wide eyes. “What on earth is this…?”
This was an amount impossible to achieve just with lottery winnings.
Taek-gyu said with his arms crossed, “Actually, last year I bought Bant Coin with my lottery winnings, and it went up 10 times. So I’m thinking of investing in coins one more time.”
At the height of the cryptocurrency craze, when Bant Coin soared to almost 30 million won, several people who had made billions or tens of billions appeared in the media. Who would have thought one of them would be here!
After a while, Hong Chang-soo, regaining his senses, said, “Y-you’ve made a very good decision. Investment is definitely in coins. Are you going to invest all 10 billion?”
“I don’t think I can do that, I’ll invest half of it for now, 5 billion.”
“F-five billion!”
Even that amount alone would be the largest sale in history.
Min Ha-young looked at Taek-gyu with a confused expression. “Are you serious?”
“Of course. Jeil Gold Coin is a new dream and hope, isn’t it?”
“……”
Taek-gyu spoke to Hong Chang-soo again. “Before investing, I’d like to hear a bit more explanation. Is it possible to meet with the CEO?”
“Of course. I’ll speak to the center manager.”
Choi Nam-woo, who was giving a lecture elsewhere, received the call and rushed over in a hurry.
The two shook hands and sat facing each other in the conference room.
Choi Nam-woo tilted his head slightly. ‘I definitely feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.’
Taek-gyu preempted him before he could speak. “You seem a bit familiar, have we perhaps run into each other at a gym before?”
At those words, Choi Nam-woo was surprised. “Ah! That’s right. No wonder you seemed familiar. I used to travel around various gyms for work. We must have met then. Haha, who would have thought we’d meet again in a place like this.”
Taek-gyu laughed. “It’s really amazing. This must be fate.”
The atmosphere naturally brightened.
Choi Nam-woo showed him various materials and enthusiastically explained Jeil Gold Coin and the Venezuelan oil field business.
Taek-gyu said in admiration, “That’s incredible. A cryptocurrency that’s also a real currency.”
“Exactly. Bant Coin is just scarce, but it has no intrinsic value itself, but Jeil Gold Coin is different.”
Taek-gyu pretended to listen attentively and said, “Is it possible to meet the CEO of Jeil Group as well?”
“Chairman Ham Soon-pyo?”
“Yes. Since I’m investing a large sum of money, I’d like to meet him and hear about the Venezuelan oil field business.”
Choi Nam-woo put on a troubled expression. “The Chairman is very busy with work. He also frequently goes on business trips to Venezuela and Singapore.”
Taek-gyu said, sounding disappointed, “Is that so? Then I’ll think about it a bit more and tell you later. Actually, I was worrying about whether to buy Bant Coin or Jeil Gold Coin because Bant Coin seems to have dropped a lot recently. If the oil fields are certain, I want to invest in Jeil Gold Coin.”
“It’s definitely certain.”
“I know that, but I think I’d be more certain if I heard it directly.”
Chairman Ham Soon-pyo was urging them to sell coins as quickly as possible, saying that more funds were needed for oil field mining. As such, they couldn’t afford to miss out on the 5 billion won.
Choi Nam-woo, having finished thinking, said, “Alright. I’ll try to arrange an appointment as soon as possible.”
***
Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam looked at the young man in his 20s sitting across from him. The young man with short hair and glasses was wearing gray sweatpants and three-stripe slippers, which every Korean has at least one pair of.
Wasn’t this too casual for a visitor to the Prosecutor’s Office? It might be the most comfortable attire even including not only prosecutors and staff, but also criminals being investigated inside.
The young man’s name was Oh Taek-gyu. None other than the Deputy CEO of OTK Company.
In Korea, everyone knows Kang Jin-hoo, but almost no one knows Oh Taek-gyu. However, Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam knew Oh Taek-gyu well.
This was because, two years ago, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office had mistakenly arrested and investigated Oh Taek-gyu, thinking he was the CEO of OTK Company.
At the time, the charges were violation of the Foreign Exchange Control Act, violation of the Financial Management Act, insider trading, illegal transactions, and so on.
However, despite facing charges that could carry decades in prison, Oh Taek-gyu was unfazed. He ate well and slept well, looking more like he was camping at the Prosecutor’s Office rather than being investigated under detention.
He was uncooperative in a strange way during the investigation. When asked about the establishment and transaction process of OTK Company, he would suddenly talk about animation and games, or doze off saying he was tired, or smirk.
The prosecutor in charge tried to scold him, saying his sentence could be increased, and tried to coax him, saying he could get probation if he cooperated well, but he just picked his ears or nostrils with an expression that seemed to ask “Whose dog is barking?” driving people crazy.
However, they couldn’t interrogate him forcefully either.
They might be able to treat penniless bums or petty criminals harshly, but it was different for wealthy white-collar criminals. (Moreover, his sister was the branch manager of Golden Gate, and the Golden Gate legal team had stepped in to defend him).
Since the purpose was to hold him and drag out time anyway, it didn’t matter much to the prosecution. But when it was later revealed that they had arrested the wrong person, the prosecution office was thrown into chaos.
Public opinion raged that the prosecution was conducting planned investigations to suit the government’s taste. Due to that incident, Prosecutor General Hong Man-ho resigned, and the Seoul District Prosecutor, and prosecutors in his line, resigned or were demoted in droves. (It has now been revealed that all of this was a planned investigation ordered by the President).
Afterwards, incidents such as the Hoseong Savings Bank crisis, the Eunsung Motors airbag recall, PAS bankruptcy, and the arrest of former President Park Si-hyeong erupted, and rumors circulated among prosecutors that getting involved with OTK Company would lead to no good.
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam asked with a reluctant expression, “What brings you here?”
Taek-gyu took out a thick envelope from his sweatpants pocket and handed it over. “I came to greet you and give you this. It’s something specially prepared for you, Prosecutor, and I think you’ll be quite satisfied when you open it. I brought more in my bag, so please open this one first and check it.”
He was startled inwardly. ‘What is this? Is he testing me? Is he perhaps trying to get my head chopped off like Hong Man-ho?’
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam jumped up and shouted, “Hey! What do you take the prosecutors of the Republic of Korea for? I don’t know how much you put in there, but if you don’t want to be indicted for bribery, get it out of my sight right now!”
Taek-gyu blinked and said, “This is a complaint.”
“……Huh?”
When he opened the envelope, there really was a complaint folded in half.
‘Don’t they usually put these in document envelopes?’
And complaints are supposed to be filed at the civil service office, what’s with giving it directly to the Chief Prosecutor?
Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam asked as if nothing had happened, “What complaint is this?”
Taek-gyu said with an aggrieved expression, “I was scammed out of a lot of money a few days ago. I’m so angry and resentful that I came directly to file a complaint.”
‘So, tell him to go to the civil service office. But for the Deputy CEO of OTK Company to say this, just how huge of a scam was it?’
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam, while flustered, glanced through the complaint. “This damage amount is…?”
“Yes. It’s as written there. Not 25,000 won, not 250,000 won, but a whopping 2.52 million won.”
“……”
Is he kidding me? A guy with tens of trillions in assets, why is he like this?
“Keep reading. Those guys are no ordinary people.”
The complaint clearly summarized the whole story of the scam incident.
‘JG Blockchain is selling worthless coins through illegal MLM, and the money is flowing into Jeil Group? Jeil Group is doing oil field mining in Venezuela, and that’s also a scam?’
“As you can see, CEO Choi Nam-woo is selling Kang Jin-hoo’s name to attract members.”
“Isn’t it true that they are relatives?”
“It is, but they’ve completely cut ties. But they’re talking as if Kang Jin-hoo is investing, or it will be listed on Bithumb. Well, setting that aside, the important thing is that these guys are scamming people.”
“Do you have supporting documents?”
“Of course.”
Taek-gyu rummaged through the bag he was carrying and handed over the materials.
While Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam was looking through the materials, Taek-gyu continued to speak. “My high school classmate was also deceived and took out a loan to put in money. There are thousands of victims, and the damage amount is at least hundreds of billions. I lost 2.52 million won and am shedding tears of blood and can’t even sleep properly, but those guys will be living comfortably and well-fed, right? How can such a thing happen in a country with the rule of law?”
The amount of material was almost the size of a book.
Bithumb’s data analyzing the coin’s source code, about 100 pages, Golden Gate’s data tracking the flow of funds, another 150 pages, and even official documents from the Venezuelan government confirming that they had never sold state-owned oil fields were attached.
“Where did you get this?”
“Because they said there were oil fields in Venezuela, I sent our employee to Caracas to check whether my 2.52 million won was really safe or not. And a government official there said it was groundless. The official document there is about that, but you probably can’t read Spanish, so if you look at the back page, the translation is attached.”
“……”
The plane ticket to go to Venezuela would have cost more.
Taek-gyu said confidently, “We must catch these scammers and get back my precious 2.52 million won. It’s an important and urgent situation. Can you start investigating and arrest them right away?”
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam put down the materials he was holding and said, “We will review it internally first.”
“There’s no time for that. What if they become aware of it and flee abroad, or siphon the money in their accounts elsewhere in the meantime?”
“The prosecution is not such a leisurely organization. There are already numerous cases under investigation, and to prevent talk of investigation requests or anything later, we need to carefully verify the seriousness of the case and the possibility of indictment according to established procedures and regulations.”
“Isn’t that how you missed Cho Hee-pal too? No, did prosecutors take bribes and deliberately not catch him?”
At those words, Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam frowned slightly. Well, it is true that some prosecutors received bribes from Cho Hee-pal’s gang.
“We will investigate according to principles.”
A prosecutor is also a public official to the end. If they bring up regulations and procedures, there’s no answer.
Taek-gyu sighed. “Haa, then I guess there’s no helping it. Understood.”
“We will give you an answer regarding this matter later.”
At those words, Taek-gyu shook his head. “No, it’s alright. I’m scheduled to meet with Park Yong-seok, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner, a little later, so I’ll talk to them.”
In an instant, Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam paused. “Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner, why…?”
“Why else? Since the prosecution says it will take time, I’m going to file a complaint with the police station. Busy prosecutors can’t possibly pay attention to such minor crimes where the number of victims is only a few thousand and the damage amount is only a few hundred billion, right? I’ll leave it to the police to round up the MLM gang. I heard from a reporter covering this case that the police are very interested in financial crime investigations these days. Ah! Come to think of it, I should tell the media that I’m filing a case with the police because the prosecution refused.”
“Media?”
“Yes. The ‘Tracking PD’ team has been digging into this from before. It’s a case involving even Kang Jin-hoo’s relatives. They were confident that it would be a 100% scoop if they broke it. Anyway, then I’ll be going.”
As Taek-gyu tried to take back the complaint, Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam hurriedly grabbed it.
“W-wait a moment.”
“Yes? Why, what’s wrong?”
Currently, discussions on adjusting prosecutorial and police investigation rights are in full swing in the political sphere. The core of this is to transfer the investigative command authority held by the prosecution to the police. As the prosecution’s authority is being reduced, it was an unwelcome discussion from the prosecution’s perspective.
In this situation, what would happen if the police solved a case that the prosecution had rejected? And not just any case, but a MLM financial crime case, not a violent crime or murder case.
The police would receive the media spotlight and public applause, but it would be difficult for the prosecution to avoid criticism.
And the police would be excited and loudly proclaim that the prosecution should give up its investigative command authority. (Meanwhile, the prosecution has been arguing that the police have difficulty directly solving complex financial crimes or white-collar crimes, so the prosecution must have investigative command).
No matter what, that cannot happen.
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam looked at Taek-gyu with a questioning gaze. “If this isn’t certain, you will be held responsible.”
Taek-gyu grinned. “Of course. If you solve the case and get media coverage, buy me a meal.”
“……”
Since becoming a prosecutor, he had met many businessmen who offered to buy him meals, but this was the first businessman who told him to buy him a meal.
‘What’s so refreshing about this?’
Chief Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam immediately gave an order. “Tell Deputy Chief Prosecutor Cha Young-ho and the financial crime investigation team to come to my office right now.”
