Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 560 A complete mess

The embezzled funds have been converted into land, and all the masterminds who needed to be arrested have been caught. The rest is beyond Lin Ge's control.

At this point in the case, the situation is basically clear.

The four individuals—Brothers Mao Xiaoming and Mao Xiaoliang, who committed the crime of illegal fundraising; Yang Ting, who orchestrated and pushed the brothers deeper into the trap; and Yang Yuhua, who was initially dragged into the scheme by her sons but later persuaded by Yang Ting to betray them—are the masterminds behind this major financial case in Zhangzhou City, where over 5,000 people have been defrauded of more than 300 million yuan. Yang Ting and Mao Xiaoming are the most deeply involved and can be considered the masterminds.

Interestingly, throughout the entire case, Mao Xiaoming was completely unaware of Yang Ting's existence. In a sense, he could be considered merely a foolish puppet seduced and corrupted by Yang Ting.

but……

He personally initiated and facilitated the development of the illegal fundraising case, and is the biggest beneficiary of this crime—this is an indisputable fact. Although there are traces of instigation, he is still a perpetrator and must bear primary responsibility. Considering the heinous crime he committed with Mao Xiaoliang more than a decade ago, this guy is almost certainly doomed; he must pay the price for his actions!
In addition to the more than 40 million yuan that the Mao brothers, Xiaoming and Xiaoliang, squandered over three years, the rest of the defrauded funds have been recovered in the form of cash, shares, real estate, property, jewelry, antiques, gold, and luxury cars.

However, whether the real estate, property, and even shares purchased for over 200 million yuan can still be worth their original price is a question that financial experts should keep quiet about.

As for jewelry, antiques, gold, and luxury cars, their depreciation is even more pronounced. Mao Xiaoliang bought these luxury cars for over 20 million yuan; he'd be lucky to sell them for even a third of that price now—the depreciation is heartbreaking.

Another point is that Mao Xiaoming and Mao Xiaoliang had money at the time, and many things were purchased at exorbitant prices. Now, if they wanted to sell them, especially if the government commissioned an auction company, the prices would undoubtedly plummet.

Preliminary estimates suggest that, regardless of whether there are any hidden assets yet to be discovered, at least 100 million yuan worth of these assets have already vanished without a trace, based solely on what has been seized so far.

In addition to what was squandered, the funds recovered are now less than half.

This also includes the costs incurred in laundering these funds.

Yes, that's how Yang Ting explained it.

She managed to embezzle over 100 million yuan from Mao Xiaoming and Mao Xiaoliang using the pretext of "laundering costs." She inflated the cost from 20% to 50%, managing to pocket over 100 million. It's fortunate that Mao Xiaoming makes money easily and doesn't care much, otherwise she would have been discovered long ago.

Incidentally, the land Yang Ting bought was indeed very large, but in order to acquire it quickly and avoid being pursued by the police, she also bought it at a premium, so it was impossible for the other party to redeem it at the original price.

"As the case unfolds, the Mao family's three companies are now worthless. They even have accumulated nearly 130 million yuan in bad debts, including to banks. Who would be willing to fill this hole for three notorious companies?"

Wang Guofeng and his men took Yang Ting away from Nie Guoqiang and informed her of the current bleak reality and the furious state of the municipal government.

As for how the government should appease these victims, that's none of the police's business. At least as an economic crime investigator, he doesn't need to accompany government personnel to personally comfort the victims; that's the responsibility of the local police stations.

The term "police officers" refers to those who treat police officers at local police stations like garbage cans, while also bearing the brunt of the victims' anger and insults.

Haha ...

Wang Guofeng seemed to be in a good mood as he left. After all, the case was solved so quickly, and the Economic Crime Investigation Division's task was complete. They didn't have to clean up the mess afterward, so they were naturally happy to relax.

Meanwhile, the various police stations, especially Longquan Police Station and Shili Town Police Station, still have a lot of things to do.

It was only at this point that Lin Ge learned that the victims of this illegal fundraising case included not only a large number of farmers, but also some landlords located in the Longquan area.

The transformation and development of the prime location made these original residents incredibly wealthy. With money and property in hand, they wanted to make their money grow; simply putting it in the bank for interest was the least desirable option. Then, Mao Shouren's company started raising capital and distributing large dividends annually—wasn't this a windfall? So, one by one, residents invested anywhere from a million to several million yuan in Mao Xiaoming's investment plan.

At first, I saved small amounts, tens or hundreds of thousands, and I was still a little apprehensive. Who would have thought that the dividends in the year before last and last year were quite good, and I earned more than ten times more than if I had just deposited money in the bank without having to do anything.

So even though they knew there was definitely something wrong with it, many people still invested more money in it.

Then... it exploded.

The arrest of the Mao Xiaoming and Mao Xiaoliang brothers must have been most alarming not only to the poor farmers but also to the major investors.

It is said that the person who invested the most put up his entire fortune of eight million, but now it has all gone down the drain.

As for the government, the recovered funds will most likely be used first to compensate farmers for their losses, and only then will they be used to help these greedy investors. In the end, there certainly won't be enough money to go around; it all depends on how much each household actually loses…

In this situation, the anger of these people can only be borne by the community members and the police officers of Longquan Police Station.

"Those who lost money, those who were desperate, those who were exhausted, those who were scolded, and those who were gloating and taking advantage of the chaos—how many unfortunate people have been affected by this mess caused by these four people!"

Lin Ge sighed, shook his head, and found a cool spot to lie down.

As the weather gradually warms up and summer stealthily arrives, Lin Ge's thick coat of fur has become a heavy burden. Even though he's finished molting and has transformed his thick winter coat into thin summer clothes, Lin Ge, whose skin lacks sweat glands, still finds it difficult to withstand the summer heat. Especially with the Mao family's illegal fundraising case seemingly igniting the entire Zhangzhou city, the scorching heat these past few days has been incredibly bothersome for Lin Ge.

Although the whole matter was no longer of much concern to him, and the relevant police would handle all the issues, the constant chatter about it still made Lin Ge feel irritable.

It's said that Zhangzhou Rural Commercial Bank, which successfully lent over 100 million yuan to Xiaoliang Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., has also joined the competition for the remaining funds. There certainly isn't enough money to go around, and now the vast majority of Zhangzhou residents are discussing the specific distribution of that money.

Each one of them, not wanting to miss out on making things worse, was there, each expressing their own opinion.

In addition, last night, a secretary of the municipal government was hit on the head with a brick on his way home.

It is said that he once proposed that all the money defrauded from the victims, plus the amount recovered by the police and the small amount of government subsidies for maintaining stability, be converted and distributed proportionally as compensation. The idea was that everyone would suffer a loss together, and everyone would receive a smaller share.

Tsk tsk! As a result, the news somehow got out of control, and he got his head blown off that very night.

"Let's set aside whether he had ulterior motives or not. But anyone with a brain would never do something that appears fair to everyone on the surface but is actually unfair to everyone. It's understandable if a few are cheated, since they're probably just stupid! But how can the hard-earned money from selling grain be taken away? They didn't do anything wrong; they just trusted a legitimate grain station. Why should they suffer losses along with investors who knowingly break the law?"

Lin Ge thought gleefully, wondering just how lively the government building was right now.

In any case, these past two days, even Yu Zhengwei, Nie Guoqiang, and Zheng Mingxing, the three leaders of Zhanghe Police Station, have been frequently going to various places for meetings, and they are so busy that they don't have time to go home.

It's fortunate that the May Day holiday exhausted the people's energy, and it's fortunate that the area was relatively peaceful during this period; otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble might have arisen at this time.

"However... I think my first-class merit award is a sure thing!"

Lin Ge recalled the hint Yang Ye had given him the night before last when he pulled Nie Guoqiang's ear. He was already incredibly lucky to have recovered half of his losses, and Lin Ge, who had made such a significant contribution, naturally deserved the reward he was given.

If we hadn't recovered half of it, who knows how complicated things would have become.

"Mimi, come with me on patrol!"

"Wang!"

Sun Chang's voice and Bei Bei's excited barking came from the corner of the yard. The two energetic guys closed the kennel door and walked towards Lin Ge.

However, when Sun Chang walked to the shade of the tree where Lin Ge had just been lying, he found that the cat had disappeared.

"whispering sound!"

With a pout, Sun Chang knew that Mimi was planning to slack off again. He had originally thought that he had to find it, but thinking about how hard it had worked lately, he felt sorry for it and gave up, taking Beibei with him to find Zhang Ke.

"You still want to order me around?"

Lin Ge emerged from a clump of grass, looking at Sun Chang's retreating figure with disdain.

Beibei seemed to sense Lin Ge's presence and eagerly wanted to turn around and play with its boss. Unfortunately, Sun Chang angrily tugged at its leash, so Beibei could only obediently follow with its tail drooping.

Lin Ge continued to stare blankly in the yard for a while, but soon got a little bored. Looking back, he saw there wasn't a single cat in the yard; the adult cats had all gone to their cat houses to cool off, and the kittens had all wandered off somewhere. After thinking for a moment, Lin Ge decided to go out. First, he'd check on Luo Jue and Ai Yun, then he'd take a stroll around Youcheng Elementary School and Baiyun Road Elementary School to see if there were any changes at Baiyun Road Elementary School, the one that had brought him such a pleasant surprise.

It is said that Yang Ting had anonymously sent the construction permit for that land to the school principal beforehand.

It's a piece of land worth over 100 million!
As a good principal who is responsible for the school and the students, should he return this land to the government to build shopping malls and office buildings, leaving the school to remain in this small place?
You know, there isn't another place this spacious and undeveloped within several kilometers!
Lin Ge was now particularly curious about what the principal would choose. Lost in thought, Lin Ge arrived at Luo Jue's house. Before even getting close to the yard, he could hear a lively commotion coming from inside. He raised his head, sniffed, and caught two slightly familiar but vaguely remembered scents.

Who is coming?

Does Luo Jue still have any relatives who are able to go out and about?
His deadbeat father is already in jail. Could it be that the old man in the family has finally remembered that he has such a grandson?
With a disdainful flick of his tail, Lin Ge jumped into the yard from the fence without even pushing open the gate.

I looked up and was stunned for a moment.

It turned out that it wasn't old man Luo Xianjin, but Xie Tailong, a good friend Luo Jue met in the Southern Province!
Oh, and next to him is his policeman father, Xie Changjun.

Xie Changjun sat in the living room with a smile on his face, while Xie Tailong next to him held onto Luo Jue and kept whispering to him. He seemed very excited, but shouldn't he be in school right now? Why was he wandering around with Xie Changjun?

Across from Xie Changjun, Ai Yun seemed somewhat restless, constantly stroking the dog with her head down the whole time.

But when the commotion of Lin Ge jumping in attracted the attention of the teddy bear, and the little guy wagged its tail and barked, Ai Yun finally looked up and saw Lin Ge walking over from the yard.

"Cat!"

Her eyes lit up and she was about to stand up, but then she remembered something and sat back down.

"Huh? Oh! Mimi!"

Xie Changjun noticed Lin Ge at this moment, his eyes lit up and he quickly greeted the cat.

"You bastard, you've been driven to Zhang City by Jinhua City like a plague god again!"

Lin Ge responded with a vicious curse.

"Ah! Mimi, I've come to find you and Luo Jue to play! Hehe... Actually, my dad is going to Chu City for work, but there are still two days before the departure date, so I asked him to bring me to Zhang City to see my new friends here!"

Xie Tailong ran straight out of the living room and squatted down to grab Lin Ge's front paws.

Lin Ge withdrew his paw to dodge, but he wasn't angry. He continued with a grin, "Long time no see, Mimi! I've heard so much about you in Jinhua! By the way, why don't you contact me usually? I'm really curious to know what amazing things you've been up to!"

"It would be really troublesome to contact someone like you, you know?"

Lin Ge was a little annoyed by Xie Tailong's enthusiasm. After dodging his pounce and hug once again, she gracefully walked to the living room and gently jumped onto Ai Yun's lap.

"Hey! Kitty!"

Ai Yun's eyes lit up, and she quickly tried to pull Lin Ge into her arms.

Between two evils, choose the lesser. Although Ai Yun was somewhat reckless, she was still much easier to handle than Xie Tailong. Therefore, although he didn't particularly like being hugged so intimately, Lin Ge still chose the soft, squishy woman over the unruly child.

"so good!"

Xie Tailong said enviously, but he didn't act stubbornly. Instead, he obediently returned to Luo Jue's side and sat down.

Lin Ge noticed Xie Tailong's precious acrylic box on the floor in the corner of the sofa. This anime-loving boy had actually brought it to the new city again. The box was empty for the moment, though he wondered how full it would be once they got home.

"Mimi, I guess we'll be fighting side by side in a few days."

Xie Changjun and Ai Yun had run out of things to talk about, and knowing about Ai Yun's illness, he changed the subject to Lin Ge.

As expected, Lin Ge was stunned when he said that.

"Fight side by side? Weren't you going to Chu City on official business? How did I get involved?"

"You do not know?"

The cat's wide-eyed, puzzled look startled Xie Changjun, who looked at Lin Ge with a questioning gaze and said, "When Chu City sent the official document to Jinhua City, it said that the case had received support from Zhang City, and that Police Cat Mimi would fully cooperate to solve the case, right?"

"Oh! I remember now!"

Lin Ge finally remembered what Xie Changjun was talking about. Wasn't it the request that Liu Yuan, the guy in the white shirt from the Chu Province Public Security Bureau, made to Nie Guoqiang back in Changshi?
How come a mysterious case in Chu City has ended up in Jinhua City seeking help?

It seems a bit much that Xie Changlong would bring his whole family all the way here to help.

Lin Ge became increasingly puzzled, suspecting there must be something he didn't know. However, he wasn't at the police station or the city bureau, and with two children and a woman who didn't know how to keep secrets, Lin Ge couldn't ask too many questions.

Xie Changjun also understood the importance of keeping secrets. Seeing that the cat seemed to have suddenly realized something, he smiled and said no more.

The group sat awkwardly in the house for a while. Luo Jue, who was not good at socializing, and Ai Yun, who was not used to facing strangers, were undoubtedly not suitable guests. Lin Ge was not afraid of strangers, but he just couldn't speak and had no way of entertaining the Xie family father and son.

So, to avoid an awkward situation, Xie Changjun had to take the initiative to find topics to talk about.

Seeing that his son was making the homeowner a little flustered, Xie Changjun smiled and said, "This is my first time in Zhangzhou! I wonder if there are any places worth visiting in Zhangzhou? Let's go for a walk today, this cat is treating?"

Why should I treat?

Lin Ge looked up and glared at Xie Changjun, but didn't really refuse.

The clueless Luo Jue didn't know any hospitality, so as the boss, he could only reluctantly offer his help. However, there really weren't many places to visit in Zhang City, and even fewer suitable for Xie Tailong, a man obsessed with anime and manga. Thinking about it, aside from himself, this special cat, and his feline underlings, Zhang City didn't seem much different from other cities. The so-called Zhanghe Scenic Area was just a large reservoir; anywhere with water wasn't a cat's paradise.

After thinking it over, Lin Ge finally decided to take the two adults and two children to Zhangzhou Zoo.

It had been a long time since I'd visited my two godson sons and that cunning leopard, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to see how they were doing and lend a hand if they needed any help.

Without hesitation, Lin Ge quickly slipped out of Ai Yun's arms, walked to the front door, and turned back to signal the four people to get ready and follow.

"You're really treating us?"

Xie Changjun was stunned. Had this cat become so psychic? Who taught it the word "invite a guest"?
"Mom, we're going out now. Let me push you to change your clothes."

Luo Jue didn't doubt Lin Ge's abilities, but quickly reminded Ai Yun to change into her travel clothes.

"No need for help! I can walk!"

Surprisingly, Ai Yun refused Luo Jue's help and stood up on her own. Although her steps still seemed a little unsteady, she was a hundred times stronger than before, which finally relieved Lin Ge.

Ai Yun has been in Zhangzhou for half a year. If there is still no improvement, then we will have no choice but to take her to Chuzhou to see a specialist for examination!
Fortunately, Luo Jue's efforts have not been in vain.

She even knows how to put together an outfit, although her style is a little strange compared to that of normal women.

Lin Ge suspected that Ai Yun had learned her style from Japanese anime, wearing long-sleeved tops and midi skirts; he wondered who had bought these clothes for her, given how casually she had put them together. However, Lin Ge could recognize a few pieces by their scent—they were definitely Jiang Yan's old clothes.

In short, after spending some time getting ready, Ai Yun was the first to walk out the door and even urged the others to hurry up.

She seemed very excited about going out to play, so Xie Changjun smiled and followed her.

"Where are we going?"

Xie Tailong wanted to take his Saint Cloth box, but was stopped by Lin Ge. Knowing that this wasn't a place for anime and manga, he was slightly disappointed, but still caught up with him enthusiastically.

(End of this chapter)