Hong Kong Tycoon: Starting from Delivering Dongfeng Express

Chapter 169 Kidnapping the Jury!
The granite portico of the High Court on Hong Kong Island gleams coldly in the sunlight, while two statues of the goddess of justice gaze down at the bronze lions below the steps—one holding a ring in its mouth and the other with its paws on a book.

The central air conditioning in the courtroom emitted a low hum, which intertwined with the cool light reflected from the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Sandy, dressed in a black lawyer's robe, said to the judge, "Your Honor, since the agreement is valid, then this 1960 million is Mr. Ye Dongsheng's legal property. And since Daoheng Bank has taken over Hengfeng Bank's debt, it should repay this 1960 million to Mr. Ye!"

The defense lawyer stepped forward, smiling, and said, "Your Honor, we still have reservations about the validity of the agreement and insist that the deposit belongs to Mr. Radar Dart."

The claim that Daoheng Bank is not repaying its loans is a slander against Daoheng Bank and only the side of the story of that Mr. Radar Dart.

Our bank, Daoheng Bank, has never said it would not repay; it's just that the problem cannot be resolved in the short term.

Your Honor, you must know how huge a sum of 2000 million is. Daoheng Bank has taken over Hengfeng Bank and assumed a lot of its debts. For such large clients, the bank needs to be given some time to process them.

Moreover, Daoheng Bank has already resolved the cash withdrawal issues for most depositors, which I believe demonstrates Daoheng Bank's sense of social responsibility!

In the audience, many people whispered among themselves: "I think what he said makes sense. 2000 million is indeed not something that can be solved in a short time. Was that radar dart too hasty?"

"Yeah, maybe the bank can pay it off in six months. I think it's too stupid of him to transfer 50 million for only 2000!"

Sandy immediately questioned, "Then how do you explain that $5 buyout contract?"

"This agreement is not illegal in the slightest. We are considering the needs of some customers who urgently need money. Whether to sign or not is entirely up to the individual, which precisely reflects Daoheng Bank's consideration for its customers!"
Mr. Radar Dart disagreed with the plan, and we fully respected his opinion and did not take any coercive measures.

In fact, Mr. Radar Dart could have waited patiently. Daoheng Bank has never denied the existence of this deposit! To this day, they still believe the deposit belongs to Mr. Radar Dart!

At this point, the defense attorney walked up to Ye Dongsheng:

"On the contrary, according to our investigation, Mr. Ye's Dongfeng Express business is thriving, earning millions a day, and he has no problem repaying our loan. Yet he refuses to acknowledge it!"

These words caused an uproar among the audience. They knew Ye Dongsheng was a wealthy man, but they never expected him to be this rich!
"Making a million a day? That's an exaggeration!"

"Is he bragging? Just a deliveryman? Earning a million a day?!"

"Making a million a day, that's over 3 million a year! That's more than many big companies make!"

"This lawyer must be exaggerating!"

Sandy quickly stood up: "Objection! Mr. Ye's income is irrelevant to this case!"

The judge banged his gavel: "Objection valid! Silence!"

However, the defense lawyer's smile did not fade, because he had achieved his goal: to let the jury know how rich this Mr. Ye was, so that they would not regard him as the weaker party. By focusing on his refusal to repay the money and being a deadbeat, he could maximize the jury's negative feelings towards him!
Humans have emotions and desires. Why do you earn millions a day and make so much money, while I can only make a few thousand a month?
Normally we ordinary people can't do anything to you rich people, but this time we have a chance to decide your wins and losses!

In this way, the final verdict will be favorable to Dao Heng Bank!
The defense attorney continued, "I have a few questions for Mr. Ye. You only need to answer yes or no!"
Have our staff visited you multiple times to urge you to repay the loan?

Ye Dongsheng nodded: "Yes."

"So you're refusing to repay the loan?"

Ye Dongsheng admitted again: "Yes!"

The defense attorney smiled and said, "Your Honor, I've finished asking my questions!"

He sat back down, looked at everyone in the room, and revealed a smug expression.

Even though the judge had just banged the gavel, some people in the room were still whispering and exchanging words.

In the jury, Liu Shufen didn't know what the others thought, but looking at the two sides at that moment, she felt that they were just two capitalists tearing each other apart! Neither of them deserved sympathy!

Moreover, she felt that Ye Dongsheng, a wealthy man, was taking advantage of Radar Biao's ignorance by buying his 50 million yuan savings for only 1960 yuan, and was profiting off someone in distress!
She even subconsciously thought that Ye Dongsheng, who earns millions a day and 1400 million in two weeks, is too stingy to pay back the bank loan! He's heartless! He's despicable!
There were whispers in the room, but Sandy remained calm and rose slowly: "Your Honor, regarding Mr. Ye's loan, we also need to make a relevant statement!"

She submitted a document to the judge and then explained to the crowd:
"Mr. Ye's 1340 million mortgage loan was not actually with Daoheng Bank, but with Hengfeng Bank! In other words, Daoheng Bank was able to take over Mr. Ye's 1340 million loan because it acquired Hengfeng Bank!"

The room fell silent instantly!
Everyone was surprised, as another unexpected turn of events had occurred! The creditor for this loan was none other than the bankrupt Hengfeng Bank!

This is where things get really strange; both sums of money are related to Hengfeng Bank!

Then Sandy walked up to the representative from Daoheng Bank and asked:
"After Daoheng Bank acquired Hengfeng Bank, did it approach Mr. Ye, wanting him to sign a supplementary agreement? To change the creditor of the agreement from Hengfeng Bank to Daoheng Bank?"

The Daoheng Bank representative opened his mouth, but could only nod: "Yes, but Mr. Ye refused!"

"No, you're lying!"

Sandy looked at everyone: "The truth is, as a law-abiding citizen, Mr. Ye did not refuse at first. He did not want to renege on his debt and originally intended to sign this agreement!"
However, Mr. Ye also had a request: Daoheng Bank should sign an agreement with him regarding the 1960 million yuan deposit, acknowledging its ownership. But Daoheng Bank refused!

"So the truth is not that Mr. Ye wants to renege on his debts, but that your Daoheng Bank refuses to acknowledge Mr. Ye's ownership of the property!"

Both sums of money came from Hengfeng Bank. Since you don't acknowledge Mr. Ye's ownership of the assets, then Mr. Ye won't acknowledge your claim to ownership of the loans either!

This caused a stir not only in the audience but also on the jury.

"This is really interesting! A deposit from Hengfeng Bank, a loan from Hengfeng Bank—it's like the two banks are chasing each other for money!" "If that's the case, I think the plaintiff's actions are correct. Since Daoheng Bank doesn't acknowledge the debt, they certainly won't either!"

"That's right, if Daoheng Bank wants others to acknowledge their debts, it naturally has to acknowledge them first!"

The defense lawyer immediately stood up and protested: "Your Honor, firstly, these two sums of money are completely independent and should not be linked together. Secondly, we insist that Radarbike is a legitimate creditor, not this Mr. Ye!"

Sandy said, "Your Honor, rights and obligations are equal. Since Daoheng Bank has taken over Hengfeng Bank, it should have the obligation to repay Hengfeng Bank's depositors' deposits while possessing such valuable resources as mortgage loans."

Since you have just determined that the transfer agreement is valid, then Mr. Ye is the legal owner of this deposit!

Daoheng Bank's actions clearly demonstrate that it enjoys the rights but refuses to fulfill its obligations, using its powerful position to bully weak depositors!

"Protest! This is a slander against Daoheng Bank. We have just stated that it's not that we don't want to repay the money, but rather that the amount of nearly 20 million from Radar Dart is too large and requires time!"

"You need time? How long do you need? Three months? Half a year? A year? Or ten years? You don't intend to drag this out for 30 years before paying me back, do you?!"

"We refuse to answer! We reserve our opinion on the legality of the plaintiff's relationship with the depositor. Before the ownership of this money is determined, we regret that we cannot disclose the withdrawal plan, as this involves user privacy!"

"You refuse to acknowledge the agreement that the judge confirmed as valid, and you won't give a repayment deadline when asked! This is clearly an act of denial! It's the bank abusing its power to bully the legitimate rights and interests of its customers!"

Sandy looked at the judge: "To prove the robbery committed by Dao Heng Bank, I request that a witness be brought in!"

After thinking for a moment, the judge said, "Agreed!"

This made the defense lawyer frown. He wasn't surprised that Radarbiao was present as a witness, but what other witnesses could the opposing side find now?
A moment later, the bailiffs brought over the witnesses, but surprisingly, there were not just one witness, but five!

After the five people arrived, Sandy asked the first person:
"Mr. Liu, you signed an agreement with Daoheng Bank and received 5 yuan. Did you do this voluntarily?"

The man said, "Of course that's not my true opinion! I deposited 73 yuan in Hengfeng Bank, but in the end I only received 5 yuan. Who would be happy with that?"
But there was nothing I could do. My family's savings, accumulated over decades, were all wiped out in this one incident. I have elderly parents to support and young children to raise; without money, we'd be starving. What could I do if I refused? We couldn't afford to delay any longer!

Upon hearing this, the defense lawyer's face changed color, and he immediately stood up: "I protest, Your Honor, the witness's statement is completely irrelevant to this case!"

Sandy retorted: "Your Honor, the witness's testimony proves that Dao Heng Bank engaged in bullying practices against its customers!"

The judge glanced at both sides, then looked at the jury and asked for their opinion: "What does the jury think?"

After exchanging a few words, the jury members quickly reached a consensus: "We believe the witness's testimony is relevant to the case!"

The judge nodded: "Protest denied! Witness to proceed!"

Sandy smiled and then asked the second witness:
"Ms. Li, you also signed the agreement. Was it voluntary?"

Miss Li shook her head and said through tears:
"I had no choice! My father was in the hospital and needed dialysis. Who could have imagined that Hengfeng Bank would suddenly go bankrupt!"

Seeing that we were running out of money, Daoheng Bank refused to pay our 33 yuan loan, no matter how much we begged. In the end, we had no choice but to sign this agreement, take 5 yuan, and leave. Otherwise, my father would have been kicked out of the hospital! I couldn't just watch him die!

Sandy asked each person a question, and the whole room fell silent.

As Liu Shufen sat on the jury, she felt her heart trembling. These people came from families like hers, originally middle-class families, but had suffered a great disaster because of a bank collapse.

If it were her turn someday, and she only received 50,000 out of the 500,000 to 600,000 yuan in the bank, would she be content? Of course not! That was their hard-earned money from a lifetime of struggle!

Sandy then asked the last person, "Mr. Zhang, I heard you have 8 in savings. Have you received it yet?"

The man shook his head: "Daoheng Bank still hasn't given it to me!"

"You can get 5 yuan just by signing, but you're only 3 yuan short. Why haven't you signed yet?"

The man angrily said, "Why should I sign? I clearly deposited 80,000, why am I only getting 50,000? I also have a loan from Hengfeng Bank. Daoheng Bank gave me the full amount when I applied for the loan, but now that it's my turn to deposit, they're short 30,000. Why?!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shufen also questioned in her heart, "Why?"
Perhaps to legal professionals, these so-called rights and responsibilities should be discussed separately, but to these ordinary citizens on the jury, it's a different story.

What gives Daoheng Bank the right to delay repaying its debts, sometimes only paying one-tenth or one-twentieth, while acting so self-righteous when demanding payment?
Does that mean only your bank's money is money, while our customers' money isn't?

Sandy then said, "Your Honor, gentlemen, as you have all seen, those who signed the buyout agreement were actually forced into it. Their legal money has suffered a great loss, but they have no choice but to swallow the bitter pill!"
Mr. Zhang only owes 8 yuan, which is far less than Radar Darts' 2000 million yuan, but Daoheng Bank has dragged its feet on repayment until now and has no intention of doing so!

These people are only a small part; many more were unable to attend. All of this demonstrates that Daoheng Bank's actions are essentially bullying, using its powerful resources as a shield to delay payments and even coerce customers through various means!
This is a blatant and outrageous plunder of citizens' legitimate property!

This immediately stirred up the emotions of the people inside the courthouse:
"Yes! Banks are all like this, and we ordinary citizens can only become fish on the chopping block, at their mercy!"

"This is outrageous! It's perfectly reasonable for banks to ask for money, but we have no way to get our money back!"

"Don't we citizens' money count as money?!"

Seeing this scene, Sandy smiled.

After all, who among us hasn't dealt with banks? Who hasn't deposited money in a bank? Anyone with money in the bank shares the same worry: what will happen when it's their turn?
Whether or not they can prove that Daoheng Bank doesn't want to repay the money is not important. What's important is to stir up the emotions of the entire audience, especially the jury, to make the jury empathize with them, and to completely sway them to their side!
Sandy addressed the judge: "Your Honor, as one of the victims, I request the court to uphold justice for Mr. Ye and order Daoheng Bank to immediately return the 1960 million deposit!"

(End of this chapter)