Past Life Returner - Chapter 21

I kept looking through the documents in front of a quiet Jonathan. He seemed to have put a lot of effort into setting up regulations for all of the paper companies since the links between more than a thousand paper companies were a mess. He arranged circular shareholdings and holding structures in a complex manner, and it made the readers, who reviewed these documents, dizzy. 

Of course the firms that did this on our behalf followed the law but it became illegal when the results came into our hands. Ironically we would be the ones at fault and not the firms who actually performed the work. 

“So these are the originals. May I keep them?” I asked and Jonathan slowly nodded.

The connections were complicated enough that even a few missing pages would make a search take years when looking for the missing links. Without this ledger we wouldn’t know where how and how much funds were going to be put in. Therefore this ledger was a manual that proved our ownership of those companies. 

We moved towards the copy machine because we needed to give Jonathan his copies. 

I suddenly asked “Do you regret any of this?”

“No Sun. Since I met you I’m just letting things happen. We earned so much money that it feels unreal” Jonathan replied.

Even though he said such things his face had stayed rigid ever since he took out the documents.

“It will take a minimum of three years until the tax investigation begins. There is a high possibility that it won’t happen at all but even if it does what will be the chance that everything will be revealed?” I questioned.

Jonathan mumbled “What if the worst-case scenario happens? What if…What if someone trails us…” 

“If that day comes let’s stamp them out with money” I responded.

“Stamp them out with money?” he asked.

“Everything we do is for money” I said.

“I don’t know what comes first and what comes later now” he replied.

“Here take these” I handed him the copies instead of money.

The sound of the photocopier whirring did not stop and I started to cross-check the copied documents with the accounts that held the most amounts of our funds. 

Our paper companies were all over the world in offshore havens including the Cayman Islands Bahamas Switzerland Ireland the Netherlands Bermuda and Hong Kong. Among them the elites were in core companies such as Gold Wish which was located in the Bahamas a small island country southwest of Florida. Rich people were living like a royal family in huge mansions that were surrounded by palm trees but how many of them had the money that Gold Wish had?

Then the monitor screen brightened and the Bahamas’ account opened.

「Registered Business Name: Gold Wish」

「Account Balance: $ 3000000000」

Below that the transfer details of how three billion dollars were collected appeared on the screen. Five paper companies owned shares of Gold Wish and the company names in the transfer history matched those in the documents. 

All the paper companies were like this and Jeon-il Investments which was going to enter Korea was the same. Jeon-il Investments would be established with five paper companies investing on an equal scale which was in the same manner as Gold Wish. The plans to place ten billion dollars into Korea’s Jeon-il Investments was completed despite the fact that the funds would be deposited in messy divided amounts over multiple periods of time.

“Have you checked the Bahamas’ account?” Jonathan asked.

“Gold Wish?” I questioned.

Of course Jonathan was aware of the name of the core company that had its roots in the Bahamas.

“Yes it’s clean. The commission fee must have been high” I said.

Dirty meant clean in this field.

He responded “Where did you even learn that phrase? Anyway I’m satisfied with the result. If we don’t call this ‘art’ what do we call it?” 

“Which firms made them?” I asked.

Jonathan began listing legal and accounting firms that would do anything for money. I selected one of the companies that dealt with the last process of our company’s division.

“It would be good to purchase this firm and impute it under Jonathan Investments” I said.

“It’s good to shop but we won’t have enough money to buy everything we want. There are only ten billion dollars left in the New York company” Jonathan smirked at himself saying ‘only ten billion dollars.’

It was the first time his expression loosened after being so rigid for a while.

“Our safe will be filled with money after October” I said.

“October?” He questioned.

“I wish you would stay with me here until then” I requested.

“What about the New York company? Do I actually trust the desk team?” Jonathan looked confused.

I explained “It doesn’t matter since the orders come from here. The real concern is whether they’ll follow our orders well. Like if they are loyal to us as I’ve emphasized before.”

“I’m sorry to say this but they’re all losers who were kicked out to the curb after causing huge losses to their previous companies and investors” he responded.

According to his calculations they would obviously obey the rules since they wouldn’t dare act out. They had been crushed from their last failures. I nodded and moved towards the safe. 

“You must be so tired so please find a hotel. And from now on use cash and never use credit cards” I said.

The safe unlocked with a dull sound. There were bundles of ten thousand won bills inside. 

“Like criminals?” Jonathan asked.

“Like billionaires” I responded.

“That’s the same thing” he said sardonically.

That was true. There was one scene from a Korean film that I could still remember. I forgot the title but it was about a rich family’s private life. The protagonist was the secretary for a rich family and had a chance one day to go into their safe. It was a huge walk-in safe and ten thousand won bills were stacked on all the shelves. The old woman the head of the family told the protagonist to take as much as he wished. The protagonist of the movie couldn’t do it but Jonathan did.

He put bills in his pants pockets and inside his jacket and briefcase. However no matter how much he tried the amount he could fit was less than ten million won.

“I’ll get the hotel” Jonathan said before leaving.

I responded “Okay I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He paused “Can we?”

“Yea I’m on vacation now” I said.

Jonathan looked at me with a blown-up face as if he forgot that I was still a teenager.

***

I went to the building the next day with a group of men wearing black suits that covered their entire arms and legs despite the midsummer heat. The ID cards they wore around their necks like slaves clearly had Daemin Bank written on it and it made them look like slaves. I went past the gate and got on the same elevator with them.

The first floor of the building was rented by Daemin Bank the biggest bank in Korea. The doors for clients and staff were on the outside so there was no way that just anybody could pass through the lobby. The people I rode the elevator with were board members or special employees. 

However they seemed too young to be in high positions. I lowered my gaze and recognized the band-aids wrapped around their thumbs and forefingers. They were hiding their fingernails. Those were traces of battle! They must be Daemin Bank’s Foreign Exchange Management Team. They were the reason why this building had been equipped with the best online network in the second half of 1997.

When I placed my ID card on the control panel the light on the thirty-fourth floor lit up. That was where my office was. These people also seemed to be conscious of me but the guy with the team leader’s ID card lowered his guard after glancing at my young face and casual clothes.

“If we fail today again a written apology wouldn’t be the end. We must get the shot today” he opened his mouth.

“Yes” the other men answered mechanically. Then the elevator started moving. 

“Deputy Kim” said the leader.

“Yes” one of the guys responded.

“Has it come in?” The leader asked.

Deputy Kim looked confused “Pardon?” 

“What do you mean ‘pardon?’ The information leaked from Deutsche Bank. Aren’t you responsible for it?” The leader raised his voice.

“Oh yes” Deputy Kim answered hurriedly.

“Can’t you do something right? Are you still asleep?” The leader seemed mad. 

“Sorry sir” Deputy Kim apologized.

“How are things going with it?” The leader asked.

“It has come in” Deputy Kim replied.

“You’re lying right?” The leader was inquisitive.

Deputy Kim said “They leaked the information. According to my calculations it was the group who monopolized the position on July 1st and liquidated on July 2nd.”

“Wow…A single group did all of them? Are they gods?” The leader shook his head in admiration.

The man was not alone and several others in the elevator questioned the deputy to check the authenticity of his findings. They were talking about what we did to the Thailand foreign exchange market in early July. 

“You can’t dig into the details?” The leader asked.

The deputy mumbled “As you know transaction history…”

“All right. We have to chase them down Deputy Kim” the leader responded.

“Okay sir” the deputy said.

“Anything else?” The leader questioned.

“There were no similar movements in the Philippines Malaysia and Singapore” the deputy said.

“If they got it all they must have earned loads of money. Gosh! So only Hong Kong is left right?” The leader asked.

“Yes” the deputy answered.

“The attack on Hong Kong has started but there isn’t any news about it yet right?” The leader questioned once more. 

“Yes” the deputy replied.

“Close all the trades in the morning market” the leader ordered.

“The morning market?” The deputy was puzzled.

Theft is never good try looking at bit.ly/442AmPS.

“Didn’t you hear me? The mad sweeping group is gunning for Hong Kong. Come to the meeting room as soon as you finish the preparations! Let’s go after them” the leader said.

They’re coming for us? My poker face did not slip. The same thing would be happening in elite banks around the world especially those whose money we stole! 

But then again how could they chase after us when we have already separated into hundreds of paper companies?