Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk

The next morning.

Kiryu Yaya arrived at Mitsubishi headquarters early.

The Mitsubishi Bank was much quieter than usual on the weekend.

Although some employees were working overtime, the number was several orders of magnitude less than usual.

When Kiryu Yaya arrived at the Special Investigation Team's meeting room, Matsumoto Takahiro was already sitting inside.

The moment he saw him, Kiryu Yaya confirmed:

"Prosecutor Kazama didn't come, did he?"

Takahiro Matsumoto shook his head:

"Unless there are special circumstances, he probably won't come at this time."

Kiryu Yaya nodded:

"That's good."

The moment he finished speaking, the two exchanged a glance, and Matsumoto Takahiro immediately stood up: "Let's go—"

"Go to the underground vault."

The two entered the elevator one after the other.

As the elevator descended floor by floor, Kiryu Yaya couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

What exactly was in those sealed files that made Konosuke Nakajima go to such lengths?

Soon, the elevator doors opened on the second basement level, and the familiar smell of dust rushed out.

The iron door to the underground vault was ajar.

The two pushed open the door and went inside.

Yoshio Hashimoto was already sitting behind the duty desk.

Perhaps it was because Matsumoto Takahiro informed him early yesterday that he wasn't seen secretly reading erotic magazines this time.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up and slowly stood up:

"Matsumoto-no-Chapter, Kiryu-san, good morning." "Hashimoto-senpai, sorry to bother you on the weekend."

Matsumoto Takahiro walked to the duty desk and placed the file request letter on the table:

"Have you found the index for that batch of files we discussed on the phone yesterday?"

Yoshio Hashimoto nodded, pulled out a handwritten index from under the table, and pushed it over with his fingertips.

"I've reviewed all the credit records related to real estate in the Kanto region from 1967 to 1978. The relevant file numbers are listed above; there are a total of seventeen files."

He paused, then added:

"However, there is one thing I need to make clear to you first."

Matsumoto Takahiro's gaze sharpened slightly:

"What is it?"

Yoshio Hashimoto took off his reading glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, and then put them back on.

"Some of the files you requested have already been sealed."

"Sealed up?" Upon hearing this word, Kiryu Yaya's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Matsumoto Takahiro.

He is about to succeed in achieving his goal.

Sure enough, the moment I heard the word "sealing out".

Matsumoto Takahiro's eyes sharpened.

Then, Yoshio Hashimoto slowly explained:

"Yes. According to the bank's record management regulations, some old cases, after the statute of limitations has expired, will be sealed by the then-head of the department with a signed sealing decision and transferred to a special sealing area. Without special permission, the original documents cannot be accessed."

Matsumoto Takahiro quickly inquired:

"Among these sealed archives, are there any files related to the development of assets in the Kanto region?"

Yoshio Hashimoto's gaze fell on the index table, then he shook his head:

"Kanto asset development? I don't think so."

No?

Kiryu Yaya frowned. This didn't match the information the system had given him.

Could it be...?

Kiryu Yaya quickly said:

"Hashimoto-senpai, could I take a look at the index?"

Yoshio Hashimoto glanced at Yaya Kiryu, but didn't ask any further questions. He simply pushed the handwritten index table over from the table.

Kiryu Yaya took the index and looked down at it.

His gaze swept down line by line, starting from the first line.

Three records of real estate-backed financing in the Kanto region in 1957 (Showa 56).

Four items from 1948 (Showa 57).

Showa 58, three pieces.

Four items from 1959 (Showa 59).

Two items from 1940 (Showa 60). Search "德旗" on Bing to see the latest chapter!

One item from the 61st year of the Showa era (1942).

There are not many financing records.

But this figure was reasonable before land prices entered a stage of out-of-control speculative surge.

After all, the guarantees that come to the head office's attention are basically large-scale guarantees in the billions of yuan.

Financing deals of this scale are naturally not very common.

Fortunately, there were only a dozen or so copies, which allowed Kiryu Yaya to get a general impression after just one glance.

Otherwise, if there are hundreds of portions, it would really be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Kiryu Yaya looked at the seventeen companies, and indeed, Kanto Asset Development was not among them.

However, since Kanto Asset Development was able to restructure and liquidate, it transformed into Kanto International Development.

Before the development of assets in the Guandong region, it may have had other names.

Kiryu Yaya narrowed his eyes slightly. He activated his skill—

[Industry Trend Chart]!

The semi-transparent interface slowly unfolds in view.

This time, instead of using "Kanto asset development" as a turning point, he shifted the timeline back to 1959 (Showa 59).

That is 1984 years.

Then, a new name appeared before us:

Tokyo Urban Development Co., Ltd.

Established in: 54th year of Showa (1954)

Main business: Small-scale commercial real estate development, land consolidation, and old building renovation in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

[Main financing bank: Mitsubishi Bank Tokyo Head Office (Showa 54 to Showa 59)]

[Status: In August of Showa 59 (1959), the corporation was dissolved and liquidated, and all assets were inherited by a newly established corporation]

[Successor Corporation: Kanto Asset Development Co., Ltd.] Kiryu Yaya suddenly opened his eyes:

"Found it..."

Tokyo urban development, Kanto asset development, Kanto international development.

Kengo Kurosaki is truly a case of moving three times for his mother's education.

Aren't you tired of having so many titles?

Kiryu Yaya was speechless.

They change their identity every four or five years. How many shady things have they done?

Kiryu Yaya let out a sigh of relief, not having time to think about it further.

Under the watchful eyes of Takahiro Matsumoto and Yoshio Hashimoto, he quickly found the name of the Tokyo Urban Development project in the index.

And the corresponding financing number:

s57-融审-0087.

The project is named: Coastal Development Land Development Project in Makuhari Area, Chiba Prefecture.

Kiryu Yaya's gaze lingered on that line of text.

Makuhari.

It's Makuhari again.

Isn't this the same piece of land that Kanto International Development used as collateral to secure 30 billion yen in financing from Mitsubishi Bank this year?

Could it be that the initial funding for this land was from Mitsubishi Bank?

If that's the case, then things are a bit scary.

It can be said that the entire Kanto International Development project, from its inception to its current size, relied entirely on the secret financial support of a certain senior executive at Mitsubishi Bank.

Kiryu Yaya was secretly alarmed.

But it cannot be shown.

Because he absolutely could not let anyone know that he knew this information.

Kiryu Yaya couldn't explain the origin of this information. If Matsumoto Takahiro became suspicious, things would get complicated.

Kiryu Yaya's gaze lingered on the index table for a little longer.

Then he asked Yoshio Hashimoto:

"Hashimoto-senpai, which files here are sealed?"

Yoshio Hashimoto adjusted his reading glasses, glanced at the index table, and then tapped on a few rows with his fingertip.

「这些授信档案里，有s57-融审-0087、s58-融审-0022和s59-融审-0015这三件，是已经被封存了的。」

Kiryu Yaya looked at Hashimoto Yoshio and said:

"Hashimoto-senpai, can we proceed with the unsealing process for these three sealed files now?"

Yoshio Hashimoto nodded:

"It's possible, but a written application is required, specifying the purpose and specific use of the data, and then it needs to be approved by the current ministerial-level official with the authority to sign off."

Kiryu Yaya didn't rush to speak. He mentally reviewed the numbers and project names he had just seen.

S57-Financing Approval-0087, Coastal Development Land Development Project in Makuhari Area, Chiba Prefecture. S58-Financing Approval-0022, Financing for the Construction of Large-Scale Warehousing Facilities in Koto Ward, Tokyo.

S59-Rong Shen-0015, Chuanqiao City Commercial and Residential Mixed Complex Development Project.

Kiryu Yaya knew that the real answer lay in those sealed files.

But he couldn't say it directly; he needed Matsumoto Takahiro to make the judgment himself.

"Chief Matsumoto".

Kiryu Yaya gently pushed the index table back to the center of the table, pointed to the row with 0087, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face:

"You mentioned this plot of land in the Makuhari area of ​​Chiba Prefecture. Is it possible that this is the same plot of land that was mortgaged in the Kanto International Development Project?"

The moment Kiryu Yaya finished speaking, Matsumoto Takahiro's gaze suddenly froze.

He reached out and picked up the index table again, his gaze falling on the line s57-融审-0087, as if trying to etch those words into his eyes.

"Makuhari..."

Matsumoto Takahiro slowly repeated the place name, then looked up at Kiryu Yaya:

"The core asset on the collateral list for the 30 billion yen credit line granted to Kanto International Development this April is the Makuhari land plot," Kiryu Yaya nodded and said.

"But we don't know yet if it's the same piece of land."

His gaze fell on a line of text in the index, and after a pause, he said:

"But it's also very simple to confirm; we just need to figure out whether there's any relationship between the Tokyo urban development and the Kanto asset development."

For Mitsubishi Bank, the main bank for international development in the Kanto region, confirming this news was a piece of cake.

Matsumoto Takahiro's eyes lit up the moment he heard Kiryu Yaya's words.

"As long as there is a corporate succession relationship between Tokyo urban development and Kanto asset development, this line is completely connected."

"And this should be clearly recorded in the business register."

With this in mind, Matsumoto Takahiro acted almost without hesitation:

"The legal entity registration information is public information and does not require internal approval."

"I'll contact the people on duty at the Ministry of Justice on weekends right now and have them retrieve the registration summary for the Tokyo urban development."

Then, Matsumoto Takahiro asked Hashimoto Yoshio, "Hashimoto-senpai, we'd like to borrow your phone."

Without hesitation, Yoshio Hashimoto turned to the side, left his seat, and made room for the phone on the table.

Matsumoto Takahiro thanked him and walked to the duty station.

However, his excitement at about to grasp a crucial clue caused him to move too much and unintentionally knock things out of the drawer.

Splash!

Several magazines slid down due to inertia, their colored pages swirling in the air before scattering all over the ground.

The cover features a female model in a swimsuit, smiling brightly on a beach in Okinawa.

The air seemed to have been paused.

Matsumoto Takahiro lowered his head, his expression shifting from anxious to blank:

"This is……"

Kiryu Yaya, who already knew about Hashimoto Yoshio's particular hobby, turned his face away helplessly, unable to bear watching him, at his age, having to act so ridiculously in front of them.

Yoshio Hashimoto's glasses nearly slipped off his nose, his mouth slightly open, and after a moment he managed to utter a dry sound: "...th-that..."

Matsumoto Takahiro gripped the microphone, pursed his lips, and tried his best to keep his expression straight before offering words of comfort:

"That Hashimoto-senpai... you're getting on in years, you should probably be more restrained."

Yoshio Hashimoto laughed awkwardly:

"Yes, yes, Commander Matsumoto..."

Immediately afterwards, both Matsumoto Takahiro and Kiryu Yaya kindly refrained from mentioning the matter again.

We're all men, after all; we should try to understand each other.

Matsumoto Takahiro's excitement was briefly interrupted by this little incident, which calmed him down a bit before he refocused his attention on the matter at hand.

He called Mitsubishi Bank's legal department and asked:

"This is Matsumoto from the General Affairs Department."

The legal department staff member on duty over the weekend was visibly sleepy when he answered the phone, but he immediately became more alert after hearing Matsumoto Takahiro's name.

"Mr. Matsumoto, please speak." "Please check the corporate registration summary of a company, Tokyo Urban Development Co., Ltd. I need to confirm its corporate status after August 1959, especially whether there are any records of dissolution and liquidation, and who will inherit the assets after the liquidation."

The sound of typing came from the other end of the phone, accompanied by the on-duty staff member's low confirmation voice.

About three minutes later, the sound started again:

"Chief Matsumoto, we've found it. Tokyo Urban Development Co., Ltd. was established in March of 1965 and dissolved and liquidated in August of 1960. All assets and liabilities after the liquidation were inherited by a newly established corporation—"

The staff member on duty paused for a moment, as if checking the text on the screen.

"The successor corporation is Kanto Asset Development Co., Ltd."

Matsumoto Takahiro's grip on the receiver tightened slightly.

"...Are you sure it's correct?"

"Confirmed. The records in the business register are clear; the succession was registered in September of 1959 (Showa 59)."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Matsumoto Takahiro hung up the phone, turned around, looked at Kiryu Yaya, and said:

"Kiryu-kun, it's now basically confirmed that Tokyo Urban Development... Kanto Asset Development... Kanto International Development changes its name and legal entity every five years." "But its core asset, the Makuhari land, has never changed."

Kiryu Yaya nodded slightly.

Some things don't need to be said, but the two of them already understand.

This is a meticulously designed, systemic financial arbitrage chain spanning a decade.

From obtaining its first round of financing in Tokyo Urban Development, to liquidation and restructuring into Kanto Asset Development, and then to restructuring again into Kanto International Development.

Each change of legal representative always coincided with a point in time when the debt had accumulated to a certain scale.

Each liquidation process clears up the debts of the old legal entity while transferring the core assets to the new legal entity without any loss.

Each time a new legal entity is established, it uses the same asset as collateral to continue obtaining financing from banks.

This is clearly not a normal business adjustment; it is a structured arbitrage model that uses corporate liquidation as a tool to achieve asset transfer.

Kiryu Yaya and Matsumoto Takahiro exchanged glances, both noticing the subtle excitement in each other's eyes.

Once this chain is established...

The protective umbrella that Kanto International Development was using was thus officially revealed to the bank's top management. And the way to confirm this was even simpler.

Kiryu Yaya had a sudden thought and asked Hashimoto Yoshio:

"Hashimoto-senpai, who sealed away the 0087 file?"

Upon hearing Kiryu Yaya's question, Hashimoto Yoshio slowly turned around and pulled out an older register from the metal cabinet behind the duty desk.

He opened it, his fingers slowly moving along the yellowed surface of the paper, then looked up:

"0087, sealed in October of the first year of Heisei."

"The person who approved the sealing is—"

"Konosuke Nakajima".