Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 118 The Army of Justice 20 (The End)

The investigation into Zhou lasted for two days.

When Tan Jia arrived at the police station on the third day, he heard that the person was already on the way to be arrested.

This case involved a wide range of people, including the Jiujiang police and anti-money laundering departments, as well as the police from Haicheng and Yuncheng, who were herding the criminals like ducks.

The main force didn't return until four or five in the afternoon.

Tan Ming and his team were sweating profusely, their clothes soaked through. The first thing they did when they got back to the office was to tilt their heads back and drink water, gulping down the whole bottle. They then started talking about the arrest while panting.

“He almost got away! They are very well-informed. They started eliminating traces a couple of days ago. By the time we caught up with him, he had already boarded a plane to an overseas destination. In the end, we coordinated with the airport to request a mid-trip landing. If it had been any later, who knows where this Onion Heart would have gone.”

Tan Jia asked, "Is it really him?"

"Yes, that agent, Zhou, is the head of the money laundering gang. He ran a shell company to handle money laundering business. Because he distributed each sum of money to unrelated subordinates, the anti-money laundering department failed to detect the abnormality of this shell company. The people and companies behind him are still under investigation, and there are quite a few of them."

It's not just a lot; when Zheng Yan returned, he mentioned that the people they had already investigated, based on their status and position, still needed to be dealt with by the anti-corruption bureau.

The interrogation of Zhou required the combined efforts of several departments to record, and no one else was allowed to approach the interrogation room.

Therefore, Tan Jia didn't know much about the subsequent interrogation, only hearing a general outline from Zheng Yan at the end.

"Zhou Yuan started out as an unknown agent, handling a few minor celebrities who were not very popular. Later, when he was taking his artists to a drinking party, he was pulled into a business by a big boss involved in smuggling. The boss wanted to use Zhou Yuan and his artists' identities to launder money, promising them handling fees and resources."

Zhou Yuan was only in his thirties at the time, and he was worried about his career and financial situation. He didn't know much about anti-money laundering laws. Although he knew that this "pie" was not very reasonable, he was still moved by the benefits promised by the other party, and thus began the path of helping others launder money.

"Money laundering is too easy. The other party will also provide resources. Once the resources are in hand, the celebrities he has can make a second round of money by acting, shooting magazines, and endorsing products. Gradually, his appetite grew. He was no longer satisfied with waiting for others to feed him, so he took the initiative to find other people who needed money laundering and directly treated it as his own business."

"But money laundering is easy to detect. Those old foxes won't just have him handle all the money. The resources they provide are also of varying quality. The celebrities they have are only going from being 18th-tier to 4th or 5th-tier. He still isn't satisfied, so he uses various drinking parties and sex services to collect dirt on many people."

Tan Jia could guess what happened next: "Then he went from being a lowly employee to a big boss's partner, which gave him an extra layer of insurance. After that, he started making dirty money and laundering it with the big boss. With the constant resources from the big boss, the stars under his management became hugely popular, and he became a top agent?"

Zheng Yan gave her an affirmative look: "Yes, after celebrities become famous, there are more ways to launder money and more amounts that can be laundered, creating a vicious cycle. In the past five or six years, the amount involved has reached more than a billion yuan."

Xiao Chen did the math: "I've been making money since the Neolithic Age, so it should be about the same amount I've made by now."

Tan Ming: "You haven't even factored in inflation and currency devaluation."

They kept calculating the money, but Tan Jia was lost in thought, kneading a dough figurine.

After a while, she asked, "During the interrogation, did he bring me up on his own initiative?"

Zheng Yan paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No."

"Where is the army of justice? Did you ask about the army of justice?"

"I asked him, and like Qu He, he firmly believed that he had only used people who deserved their fate." At this point, Zheng Yan sighed, "You didn't see his state during the interrogation. He spoke eloquently and with ease. As we recounted the facts of the crimes, his expression was as if he were listening to his own biography of success. He even closed his eyes and seemed quite smug."

At the time, Zhou Yuan said: "We don't target pitiful ordinary people. Those who threaten and punish others deserve it. If you don't believe me, investigate carefully. Those people are like trash. Once we have leverage over them, we make them play their last role, then push them out for you to execute. This brings us money, you performance, and social harmony. Isn't this approach correct?"
His expression and tone were very sincere when he asked the questions, as if his viewpoint was something everyone should agree with. The interrogator asked a few more questions, and the scene almost turned into a philosophical debate.

Tan Jia still frowned.

"Does he have accomplices? Are they gang leaders like him, or people with high positions in the gang?"

"Yes. Among the male celebrities who were brought in with him at the beginning, there is his current wife, his mistress, and a high-level manager at his agency."

"He has lovers? How many? Are they all women?"

Her question was rather strange, but Zheng Yan still answered it seriously.

"Three of them, all women: celebrities, internet celebrities, and the head of an international women's magazine."

“They’re all women,” Tan Jia said, finding something amiss. “Have you checked his usual video browsing history and his live stream tipping records? I thought he must be gay because he tipped gay influencers during the toxic yogurt incident and even booked a room to install surveillance cameras to secretly film them.”

Is that mysterious fan who booked the room really the ringleader?

"Also, he secretly photographed me and sent me postcards. At the time, we guessed that he was trying to win me over. This kind of seemingly nonchalant criminal, like Qi Su-fen in the serial child murder case, should be very concerned about the role I played in the case. He mentioned the army of justice, so why didn't he mention me?"

Was he really the one who sent me the postcard?

Zheng Yan took a sip of water and first praised, "Paying attention to details is a good habit in criminal investigation work."

Then he explained, "He didn't bring it up himself, but he admitted to sending the postcards during our interrogation."

“We’ve investigated. Their money laundering methods for live-streaming donations involve game accounts, singing and dancing accounts, beauty accounts, and couple accounts. There’s no obvious bias. They chose gay accounts because Qiu Chenxing and his friends really have a lot of traffic and are quite popular.”

"Later, in the case of the internet celebrity's death, he did intend to record a video as a small gift for a few people who had this hobby, but he did not expect that a murder would occur. Before he deleted the account and ran away, he took a photo of us entering the crime scene. You were very conspicuous in it, so he targeted you."

"He did want to win you over, but he didn't expect that Jin Xiangyuan and Qu He's 'promotion assessment' would have such a big accident, which attracted us and led to the discovery of the jewelry. Qu He passed the message to the gang members, who were busy cutting ties to cover up their crimes and transferring assets to flee the country. Your existence became the most insignificant item on the to-do list."

Tan Jia thought about it and realized that this reason was also plausible.

Perhaps she's overthinking it.

“I thought there was someone else hiding under the heart of the onion.” She breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's right to be cautious with this kind of onion-like criminal. Our investigation is ongoing, and we might uncover more. But anyway—"

Zheng Yan patted her and said, "With your help this time, we've uprooted a criminal gang. Whatever reward you want, just name it, and I'll apply for it. We're on vacation the day after tomorrow, so I'll treat you to a big meal at the loquat orchard. If Lin Zhiyue wants to come, bring him along too."

(End of this chapter)