Anti-gang campaign: Female bureau chief

The task force retrieved the marriage registration information of Tang Weidong's sister, Tang Lin, from the Shiqiao County Civil Affairs Bureau. The file showed that Tang Lin and You Chuanfu registered their marriage in November 2018, which was about two years after Zhou Pei led the investigation into Tang Weidong six years ago.

At the time Zhou Pei was investigating the suspicious transfers between You Chuanfu and Tang Weidong, the two were indeed not related.

However, starting in 2017, Tang Weidong, in his capacity as head of the mining management department, successively approved the best sand mining section in Xiahe Town to You Chuanfu.

At that time, You Chuanfu was not yet his brother-in-law, but there were already large sums of money going between the two families.

By 2018, You Chuanfu had officially become Tang Weidong's brother-in-law. Not only did funds flow more frequently between the two families, but there was also a phenomenon of cross-ownership of property. Tang Weidong owned a commercial apartment in Shiqiao County. The apartment was registered in the names of Tang Weidong and his wife when it was purchased, but 200,000 yuan of the down payment came from You Chuanfu's bank account.

The renovation costs for the house were paid by another immediate family member of Tang Weidong.

Meanwhile, the rent for the apartment that Tang Weidong's son rented while studying at university in the provincial capital was directly transferred from the account of a company under You Chuanfu's name for three consecutive years.

Zhao Rui compiled these financial transaction data into a detailed comparison table, which was then printed out and covered the entire conference table.

Each transfer was marked with a different colored highlighter—red for abnormal inflows of funds under Tang Weidong's name, green for regular payments from You Chuanfu to Tang Weidong's family, and yellow for new real estate and vehicle registration records under Tang Lin's name.

These figures, when added together, show that Tang Weidong's family members received a total of over six million yuan in transfers and physical assets from You Chuanfu and his affiliated companies over the past five years, while Tang Weidong's annual salary at the Natural Resources Bureau was less than 150,000 yuan.

He could not explain the source of this wealth, and the task force would not let him explain it easily.

The night before Tang Weidong was arrested, Jiang Ruolan revised the action plan in her office until after 2 a.m.

Lu Zheng pushed open the door and brought her a bowl of noodles he had gotten from the cafeteria. The noodles were clumped together, so she stirred them with her chopsticks, took a bite, and then looked up to ask Lu Zheng if the families of the victims whose houses had been demolished were willing to testify in court.

Lu Zheng said that Fan Zhixing was willing, Liu Cuifang was willing, and Grandma Jiang was not only willing but also took the initiative to appear in court. Ding Dazhuang was still hesitant. His wife had just given birth, and he was afraid of being retaliated against after appearing in court. Although he knew that Tang Weidong had been arrested, it was impossible for someone who had been afraid for decades to become fearless in just a few days.

Jiang Ruolan was silent for a while, then said that they should wait and not rush him.

Fear doesn't form in a day, nor can it disappear in a day.

We'll take his statement when he's ready.

She then asked Zhao Rui how the recovery of stolen assets was going, and whether it was possible to recover Fan Zhixing's pig farm losses and Liu Cuifang's demolition compensation difference from You Chuanfu's account.

Lu Zheng said that Zhao Rui had frozen six bank accounts under You Chuanfu's name, and seized nearly 10 million yuan in cash and wealth management products, which was enough to cover all the known losses of the victims, and even had a surplus.

Before I had finished eating my noodles, the landline on the table rang.

Lu Zheng answered the phone; it was Lao Sheng on the other end.

Old Sheng's voice was hoarse and tired, clearly indicating that he had also stayed up all night.

He said there was a new development in Xiahe Town—You Chuanfu's sand and gravel plant suddenly stopped operating tonight, all four sand dredgers docked, and the sand and gravel transport trucks that usually run 24 hours a day were all parked in the parking lot.

He sent people to keep an eye on things and discovered that You Chuanfu was burning something in his office at the sand and gravel plant. The firelight shone through the window and turned half of the river red.

Lu Zheng handed the microphone to Jiang Ruolan, who took it and said "Old Sheng"—Old Sheng calmly interrupted her on the other end, saying in a tone as if they were discussing what vegetables to buy tomorrow that his men were already waiting outside the gravel pit, and would catch You Chuanfu when he finished burning the food and was about to run away.

He had the police block off all the intersections near the gravel pit beforehand, so You Chuanfu couldn't possibly escape unless he grew wings and flew across the river.

Around 4 a.m., You Chuanfu was intercepted by police at the back gate of the sand and gravel plant.

His car trunk contained two suitcases, filled with changes of clothes, cash, wigs, and a fake ID card under the alias "Xie Yongkang".

He planned to leave the province overnight, but he didn't get the chance to set off.

Even as he was pinned to the hood of the police car and handcuffed, he was still shouting that he wanted to call his brother-in-law.

Tang Weidong was taken away at six o'clock in the morning on the same day.

When the task force knocked on his door, he was watering flowers on the balcony, holding an old water jug ​​that he had used for many years. A small piece of porcelain was chipped off the spout, revealing rusty iron underneath.

He was wearing an old white undershirt and plastic slippers. His hair was unkempt, with a few strands of gray hair sticking up on his head. He looked like any other retired old man in the neighborhood who got up early to water the flowers.

He placed the kettle on the flower stand, nodded to the police officers in the living room, said "I'm going to change my clothes," and went into the bedroom. When he came out, he was wearing a clean white shirt, buttoned up to the top, and smoothed out the wrinkles on the cuffs one by one with his fingers.

He extended both hands, his tone calm and polite:

"Thank you all for your hard work."

When Tang Weidong was brought into the interrogation room, his demeanor was unlike that of any other suspect Jiang Ruolan had interrogated before.

He didn't have Xing Laosan's arrogance, Wen Jingyao's shrewdness, or Ding Hai's twisted and morbid possessiveness.

He sat in the interrogation chair, his back straight, his hands neatly placed on his knees, his gaze calmly fixed on Jiang Ruolan opposite him, like a job applicant attending an interview.

"Tang Weidong, you have served as the head of the Mining Management Section of the Natural Resources Bureau of Shiqiao County for nine years. During those nine years, the best sand-mining sections of the river in Xiahe Town were all allocated to your brother-in-law You Chuanfu's Fusheng Sand and Gravel Plant. Every year, You Chuanfu extracted hundreds of thousands of tons of sand and gravel from these sections, making a net profit of over five million yuan. Over the past five years, you and your family have received a total of over six million yuan in transfers and in-kind gifts from You Chuanfu and his affiliated companies. Is this money your legitimate income as the head of the Mining Management Section? Can you explain the source of this money?"

.........................