Chapter 64: 063 The Fox Reveals Its Tail

Could that have been an act?!

A performance put on just for me?!

Fang Qingye suddenly thought of something.

However, he remained outwardly calm and followed Duan Jianming into the office building.

Fang Qingye saw Zhang Chunli and Chen Meimei in a conference room and asked, "Did you find any problems?"

Chen Meimei shook her head.

Zhang Chunli added, "I found nothing either." Then she smiled at Duan Jianming, who was following behind, and said, "President Duan, your company's financial accounts are extremely standardized, even more so than those of some large corporations."

"That is only right; we cannot cook the books. Besides, standardized accounting also reflects a company's management capability," Duan Jianming said.

"Oh, let me see." Fang Qingye became interested.

He casually picked up a ledger and began flipping through it.

As expected, it was!

Every sales transaction in the mall was accompanied by a deposit credit card slip or a cash receipt; the shipping orders all had corresponding order numbers, and the recipient column included personal signatures.

Fang Qingye randomly pulled out several entries to verify and found that the signatures on each were different, and the pen colors and thicknesses also varied.

All sales to the company had contracts, and repayments were uniformly made via bank transfers between corporate accounts; the transfer vouchers were complete, and every single one bore the watermark of the "People's Bank of China."

Indeed, very neat.

Even the accounts of Vanguard Commander Chongjian Co., Ltd. that he reviewed yesterday were not this clear and standardized.

In an enterprise of this scale, having such clear accounts and such orderly vouchers was truly very rare.

But, when something unusual happens, there must be a demon behind it!

Thinking of the unusually neat appearance he had seen in the factory area earlier, and that strange smile on worker Wang's face when he came to demand wages, Fang Qingye felt there was something odd about this.

"Director Fang, you've worked hard. Let's go to the conference room and have some watermelon," Duan Jianming called out at that moment.

"No rush; let me look a bit more."

Fang Qingye continued examining various financial vouchers.

He suddenly noticed that among the transfer checks, one check for 2.8 million yuan was transferred from Shenzhen Tongda Trading Company to Athena Horticulture Technology Limited Liability Company, with the paying bank being the Yan'an Branch of the Bank of Communications Co., Ltd.

A transfer from the Bank of Communications?

Including the Bank of Communications, the five famous state-owned banks, now plus one savings bank, make six state-owned banks in total; people habitually refer to them as CCB, ABC... rarely using their full names: China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, etc.

The Bank of Communications has not established a branch in Nanxin; it only has one in the Jinghai urban area, so ordinary people rarely come into contact with it.

Fang Qingye stared at the check bearing the name "Bank of Communications Co., Ltd." for a while, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

Damn it!

The fox's tail has finally been revealed!

Fang Qingye took out his Nokia phone, photographed the check, and saved it in his phone.

Seeing this series of actions by Fang Qingye, Duan Jianming's expression changed; he suddenly said, "Director Fang, isn't it enough? Come to my office for a sit? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you privately."

"Oh?" A playful smile appeared on the corner of Fang Qingye's mouth.

"Alright."

The two left the office and went to the third floor to the room with the Chairman's plaque. After entering, seeing Fang Qingye seated on the sofa, Duan Jianming locked the door from the inside, said nothing, took a bulging plastic bag from the drawer of the boss's desk, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Fang Qingye.

Inside were all bundles of Renminbi!

Fang Qingye roughly estimated there was 100,000 yuan.

"Boss Duan, what is this?" Fang Qingye pretended not to understand and asked.

"Director Fang, you are a smart person; let's speak plainly. As long as the on-site inspection passes today, all of this is yours."

"Boss Duan, this is bribery. If I accept your 100,000 yuan, it constitutes the crime of accepting bribes; according to Article 385 of the Criminal Law, it is punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention... I estimate I would be sentenced to three years in prison," Fang Qingye said.

"Director Fang, you are joking. Here, only heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know; if you and I don't speak, who would know?" Duan Jianming said.

"Hehe, I am a timid person; who knows if there are cameras or recording pens in your office..." After saying this, Fang Qingye stood up: "Let's go back; our inspection ends here today. Goodbye."

After speaking, Fang Qingye left the office and went to the second floor where Zhang Chunli and the others were, asking Zhang Chunli to make copies of that check along with other vouchers related to this transaction and take them away.

Sitting in the car, Zhang Chunli couldn't help but ask, "Director Fang, there is something wrong with this check; how did I not see it?"

"Because we have no branch of the Bank of Communications here and deal with them too little; let's see what Director Xia says?"

As Fang Qingye spoke, he sent the photo of the check he had just taken as an MMS attachment to Xia He.

As soon as Fang Qingye started the car and left the technology park, his phone rang; seeing it was a call from Xia He, he pressed the speaker button, and Xia He's voice immediately came through.

"Assistant Fang, the check you sent me is obviously fake! The full name of the Bank of Communications is Bank of Communications Co., Ltd.; there are absolutely no two characters 'China' in front! This Athena Horticulture Technology Limited Liability Company is cooking the books; their operations have major problems!"

"I know; we are already back; let's talk when we get to the unit." After saying this, Fang Qingye hung up the phone.

Zhang Chunli and Chen Meimei, sitting in the back row, were both stunned; after a while, Zhang Chunli finally spoke up: "Director Fang, luckily we had you today; otherwise, we would have been deceived by that Boss Duan! Truly unexpected; the full name of the Bank of Communications does not include 'China,' unlike other banks."

Zhang Chunli was still muttering to herself there.

"You don't know; even the people in their company didn't figure it out; otherwise, it would truly be passing off a fake as genuine," Fang Qingye remarked.

He also didn't expect that Boss Duan would be so audacious as to forge a transfer check!

"Director Fang, you are truly impressive; it didn't escape your fiery eyes." Chen Meimei, who rarely spoke flattering words, actually said this, her face full of admiration.

Heh...

Who else but me worked in investment banking for over ten years in my previous life, seeing and hearing so much?

Fang Qingye smiled slightly and said nothing.

Back at the sub-branch, as soon as Fang Qingye entered his own office, Xia He knocked and came in, asking, "Xiao Fang, what exactly happened?"

Fang Qingye briefly recounted the process of the on-site investigation at Athena Horticulture Technology Limited Liability Company, including his initial doubts.

However, he did not mention the bribery attempt by Duan Jianming.

One must leave a way out for others; moreover, after this incident, Duan Jianming and his Athena Horticulture Company have been blacklisted by the Oriental Bank and will not be able to obtain a single cent in loans in the short term.

"Little Fang, you are indeed meticulous!" A smile appeared on Xia He's face, and she added, "It seems our staff still needs more training; not knowing the full name of the Bank of Communications is such basic common sense in China."

"That is normal too. The Bank of Communications has no branches in Nanxin, and the enterprises we serve basically have no remittance business from the Bank of Communications, so it is normal not to know." Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"You've worked hard. Rest first; we will have a meeting this afternoon."

"What meeting?" Fang Qingye asked.

"The loan approval meeting, of course," Xia He said.

"I am not even a member of the loan approval committee; why hold a meeting?" Fang Qingye was very strange.

"From now on, you are! Director Su and I discussed it and decided to have you join the approval committee!" Xia He smiled brightly.

This?

Isn't there no specific business?

Fang Qingye suddenly felt a sense of having been deceived.

The loan application of Athena Gardening Technology Limited Liability Company was rejected by the Oriental Bank. Two days later, it was heard that a group of people broke into the Athena Company and carried away everything valuable inside; it turned out that Boss Duan owed usury and did not repay it...