Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 354 Tax Evasion
Fan Zhongliang's words shocked Zhou Yi. If he wasn't lying, then this was a situation Zhou Yi hadn't anticipated.

But he said without changing his expression, "To be more specific, let's start from the beginning."

Fan Zhongliang nodded repeatedly.

"Here's what happened. When I was young, I was assigned to work as an accountant at the Anyuan Waterworks. Later, due to some mistakes at work, I was... I was fired from the factory."

Zhou Yi knew very well that state-owned enterprises would not easily fire people unless they had made a serious mistake.

It seems that Fan Zhongliang was not honest even when he was young.

"After leaving the waterworks, I helped some business friends with some accounting matters. Our Anyuan is famous for its watermelons, so some of my friends do wholesale, which involves invoices and reconciliation. I earn some pocket money to barely make ends meet."

“I… that’s when I met Fu Daqing. He had close business dealings with Ding Wenyuan at the time, so we became quite familiar with each other.” Fan Zhongliang asked Zhou Yi, “Ding… you know Ding Wenyuan, right?”

"What do you think?"

Fan Zhongliang quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, you must know each other."

"continue."

"Okay, okay. Later, more and more people started chicken farms. At first, no one paid taxes because many people simply didn't have the awareness and always felt that they shouldn't have to pay taxes on the money they earned. Then one time, through a friend's introduction, I met Zheng Guangming."

“Zheng Guangming’s business was doing quite well at the time. He planned to expand and build a second chicken farm, so he consulted me on some tax-related issues. That’s how we met. Then he asked me to manage his accounts because he felt that the poultry industry in Anyuan was developing better and better, and if we didn’t follow the proper procedures, there would definitely be problems later.”

"Later it proved that he was right to think that way, which shows that he really has a good eye."

Zhou Yi asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because the scale of the breeding industry in Anyuan has increased, the city has started to regulate the industry. To put it bluntly, all the chicken farm owners have made money, but the city's tax revenue has not increased much, so of course it has to be regulated. At that time, this matter caused quite a stir. Many farmers refused to have their accounts checked and refused to pay back taxes, saying that why should the city take the money they earned."

"How could the arm twist the thigh? The city started to deal with these troublemakers. Many chicken farms were shut down because of this, either because of hygiene and disease prevention problems or because of incomplete land use applications."

"Then Zheng Guangming was chosen as a model by the district because he paid his taxes obediently from the beginning and kept clear accounts. The leaders were very satisfied with him. That's when he started to rise to prominence."

This matter struck Zhou Yi as both unexpected and yet perfectly reasonable.

Logically, he believed that someone who could build such a large business must have exceptional abilities, even though there were indeed advantages from the times.

But what was unexpected was that Zheng Guangming had actually predicted the tax issue.

"What year was this?"

Fan Zhongliang replied, "It was around 1993. Then, with the support of the district, he established a company, and his business started to grow bigger and bigger. Naturally, I also joined the company to help him manage the accounts."

"Did you join Zheng Guangming's company before or after Fu Daqing's business failed?" Zhou Yi asked.

"After that, actually, I didn't have much contact with Fu Daqing anymore. I only found out about him being scammed from Ding Wenyuan."

"Okay, continue."

“Okay. Then…” Fan Zhongliang hesitated for a moment, but continued, “One day Zheng Guangming suddenly told me that his business was growing bigger and bigger, and he felt that paying so much tax to the city was too unfair. I understood what he meant at that time. He wanted to falsify accounts to evade taxes.”

This statement made Zhou Yi realize where Fan Zhongliang got so much money from.

These were unexplained earnings that were hundreds of times his original salary, all of which were embezzled funds that Zheng Guangming gave him for falsifying accounts and evading taxes.

So it was always cash deposited. Fan Zhongliang alone took so much, so you can imagine how much money Zheng Guangming evaded in taxes.

Wait a minute, this passbook in my hand was opened four years ago, and the first money was deposited four years ago.

This indicates that Fan Zhongliang used this passbook specifically to store the proceeds of his embezzlement.

"Fan Zhongliang, when did Zheng Guangming start having you falsify accounts?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Four...four years ago, that was 1994..."

Zhou Yi was taken aback by this definitive answer; Zheng Guangming was incredibly bold.

Relying on its "law-abiding" persona, it received preferential treatment from the district in 1993 and was transformed into a regular enterprise. It is estimated that it received a lot of support and resources during its development.

As a result, they started falsifying accounts and evading taxes as early as 1994.

It's true what they say: the bold get rich, and the timid starve.

"Confess in detail about falsifying accounts. Explain how you did it, how much tax you evaded in total, and give a complete account of the situation. Fan Zhongliang, you've been an accountant for twenty or thirty years, so you'd better not forget those things." Fan Zhongliang could only nod, even though the amount of money involved in falsifying accounts was huge and the punishment would be severe.

But Zheng Guangming is the legal representative and boss of the company; I am just an accomplice.

He recounted all the details of falsifying accounts and evading taxes. After listening, Zhou Yi thought that Director Guo would probably be quite happy to hear this news.

If this matter is reported to the city, the city can investigate and impose fines.

Making Guangming Commerce pay back taxes and fines is secondary; the more important thing is to use this opportunity to clean up the industry again, just like five years ago, and use Guangming Commerce as a negative example to give a warning to the entire city's aquaculture industry. Those who should pay should pay, and those who should make up should make up, so that they don't regret it when they are caught.

After Fan Zhongliang finished explaining the details of the falsified accounts, Zhou Yi suddenly asked, "Do you have any evidence that Zheng Guangming falsified the accounts?"

Fan Zhongliang was immediately startled, because his confession did not mention this matter.

Zhou Yi continued, "You left Guangming Trading Company half an hour earlier than us. If you were just taking the money, it wouldn't have taken that long. Did you hide the evidence at home and then run back to destroy it?"

When a company falsifies accounts to evade taxes, it usually means that it keeps two sets of books, one real and one fake. The fake book is used to fabricate transactions and costs, conceal income, manipulate related-party transactions, and abuse tax policies, so as to significantly reduce the amount that should be paid and put the money into the pocket of the individual.

The real accounts are the true financial situation of the company, which is the irrefutable evidence of tax evasion.

The crucial information, such as the true accounts, is either in the hands of the boss or in the hands of key personnel like Fan Zhongliang who are responsible for the operation.

This is why some prisons specifically detain individuals convicted of economic crimes, such as accounting. While society may perceive them as scapegoats for their bosses, they actually understand better than anyone the implications of every single transaction they handle.

"Is that right?" Zhou Yi asked loudly.

“Yes… I was afraid that Zheng Guangming might turn his back on me one day, so I made a copy of the ledger to protect myself,” Fan Zhongliang said helplessly. He felt like a mouse standing under a searchlight, with nowhere to hide.

Zhou Yi was able to think of this because Fan Zhongliang's bag contained no account book, only money.

What they learned from Guangming Trading Company was that Fan Zhongliang had driven away half an hour earlier.

Although Xia Yu was driving very fast, there was still a considerable time difference.

However, given that Fan Zhongliang was still at home during that at least twenty-minute time difference, it was definitely not as simple as just withdrawing money.

Therefore, he guessed that some evidence must have been destroyed inside the house.

"You burned the ledgers?"

Fan Zhongliang hummed in agreement and nodded.

The absence of genuine accounts does not mean that the crime has ceased to exist; it simply means that a huge amount of manpower and resources will be required for subsequent audits and verifications. However, this is not Zhou Yi's concern; it is a matter for the local authorities in Anyuan.

"You falsified accounts for Zheng Guangming for four years and facilitated tax evasion by Guangming Trading Company, profiting over 300,000 yuan. These matters will be specifically verified and investigated later. Now, let's discuss other issues. Do I need to remind you? What about Yang Jian?"

Fan Zhongliang quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need, I'll say it myself, I'll say it myself."

"Yang Jian, it's like this. Around the beginning of this year, in January, there were some problems with the accounts at Chicken Farm No. 5. General Manager Zheng asked Junior General Manager Zheng and me to check the accounts there. So we went there. I brought two ledgers with me because we needed to check the actual expenses and verify them. But... I don't know how, I accidentally lost the ledger with the fake accounts."

Zhou Yi asked, "So Yang Jian found this ledger?"

Fan Zhongliang nodded: "Yes, to be honest, I don't know if he found it by chance or if he deliberately stole it. When I found the ledger was missing, I immediately ran back to look for it, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Old Meng from the chicken farm, the person in charge, helped me look for it. He also asked the employees at the chicken farm, and they all said they hadn't seen any ledger."

“I was terrified, but I didn’t dare tell Zheng Guangming.”

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "Of course you wouldn't dare say that you lost the ledger. If Zheng Guangming found out, he'd probably want to kill you."

"And then what did Yang Jian do?"

"After he found the ledger, he called Mr. Zheng and said that if Mr. Zheng gave him 50,000 yuan, he would return the ledger to Mr. Zheng and promised not to report the company."

Zhou Yi frowned and asked suspiciously, "Yang Jian is just a mechanic, how could he see the trickery in the ledger?"

"I heard from Lao Meng that his wife, who died of illness, was also an accountant, so she probably knew a thing or two. And... moreover, in order to increase costs and reduce profits, Zheng Guangming made me double the labor costs in the falsified accounts and even forged the workers' signatures. That's probably what made Yang Jian discover it..."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, Zheng Guangming is indeed ruthless.

But Yang Jian's last words were probably the real reason he ended up on his own path to ruin.

(End of this chapter)