Chapter 399: This Amount Doesn't Even Need Sentencing

It really is a huge sum of money.

Yu Dazhang didn't have much of a concept for the unit "hundred million," since he had never done economic-crime investigation work before.

Still, he knew this was an amount ordinary people couldn't earn in several lifetimes.

"What about the others?" Yu Dazhang asked:

"None of Zhang Chao's relatives were involved in the case?"

In his view, putting all the money in one person's hands was far too risky.

Once the police tracked it down, the whole lot would be caught in one sweep.

But analyzing it from the other side, concentrating the money in one person's hands also reduced the chance of exposure.

It could be said there were pros and cons.

"No other leads for the moment."

Captain Hua replied:

"Now each sub-team has already screened out every one of their relatives one by one and launched covert investigations, but so far the only problem we've found is with Yang Jieru's cousin."

Yu Dazhang then counted the days in his head.

It had been eight days since the main suspects were caught.

Yet Yang Jieru's cousin had transferred the money out on the second day after they were caught — with such a long gap in between, why hadn't her cousin run?

Also, why transfer out such a large sum only now?

Yu Dazhang had seen far too many cases of criminals moving their assets in advance.

They would usually transfer their assets to a safe place — abroad, for instance — before things fell apart.

Given Yang Jieru's intelligence, she should have thought of this long ago and made plans to move her assets in advance.

"Has Yang Jieru's cousin been interrogated?" Yu Dazhang asked with a solemn face.

He always felt this matter wasn't that simple, because there were parts that didn't quite follow logic.

"Haven't had time to interrogate him yet." Captain Hua's tone was a little helpless:

"We're a bit short on manpower right now, but the person has already been brought back."

What he said was true.

Don't be fooled by the task force's seemingly large numbers — once a full investigation into the main suspects' social connections was launched, the manpower suddenly seemed stretched thin.

"Let's go interrogate him, the two of us."

An interrogation requires at least two people present; Yu Dazhang said, looking at Captain Hua:

"There's something I need to ask him face to face."

Twenty minutes later.

Inside the interrogation room.

"Name?"

"Yang Ziliang."

"Age?"

"Twenty-nine."

"……"

After asking the basic information, Yu Dazhang got straight to the point:

"A week ago, why did you suddenly transfer the money away?"

To his and Captain Hua's surprise, this Yang Ziliang didn't even think about it and answered directly:

"My cousin told me to do it. The day before the transfer, she called me and told me to move the money as soon as possible, not to leave it in the company's account."

Yu Dazhang stared at his face and found his expression natural — it didn't look like he was lying.

The day before the transfer was exactly the day Yang Jieru and the others were trapped up on the mountain; the timing matched up.

"What time did Yang Jieru call you that day?"

Yu Dazhang's voice was low and stern, as if scrutinizing every single word Yang Ziliang said.

Yang Ziliang answered without the slightest hesitation:

"Four-thirty in the afternoon. My cousin rarely contacts me during the day, so when I picked up the call I made a point of checking the time."

Hearing this, Yu Dazhang could already be certain he wasn't lying.

Because at four-thirty that afternoon, he had just had someone remove the surveillance at the villa.

At that point Yang Jieru had already realized the police would definitely track them down, so she had made her cleanup arrangements in advance.

"After transferring the money away, why didn't you go into hiding?"

Yu Dazhang then added:

"Even fleeing abroad wouldn't be much of a problem for you, would it? As long as the money's in place, even without a passport you've got plenty of ways to get out of the country."

This was also the part he couldn't figure out the most.

The provincial bureau officers had caught Yang Ziliang at his home, which meant he had no intention of running at all.

"Why would I run?"

Yang Ziliang showed a puzzled expression, as if he found this kind of question hard to understand, and asked back:

"My cousin just told me to move the money. She never said you police would come after me. Why on earth would I have to run?"

His counter-question caught Yu Dazhang off guard in an instant.

Even Captain Hua, who was in charge of taking notes beside him, was stunned.

"Yang Jieru didn't tell you what was going on?"

Yu Dazhang looked at Yang Ziliang across from him in disbelief:

"She just asked you to transfer the money away?"

How could this be possible... He could hardly believe what his ears had just heard.

After such a huge incident, would Yang Jieru not notify her cousin to hide?

What's the use of just transferring the money? If the person gets caught, won't the police freeze the money anyway?

How could Yang Jieru possibly make such a basic mistake?

"Yes, I just said that."

Yang Ziliang's tone revealed impatience:

"She just asked me to transfer the money; how would I know what happened?"

Yu Dazhang turned his head to glance at Captain Hua, only to find Captain Hua staring at him with the same puzzled look.

Then it was confirmed; it wasn't just him who felt something was wrong... Yu Dazhang also realized where the problem lay.

"Do you know what Yang Jieru does?" he asked, staring at Yang Ziliang.

"Of course I do." Yang Ziliang answered very readily:

"She works in finance."

Works in finance? Yu Dazhang looked at him as if he were an idiot:

"Then didn't you ever suspect why Yang Jieru asked you to help her launder money?"

"She is my cousin." Yang Ziliang looked back at Yu Dazhang with the same expression:

"With such a good money-making opportunity, of course she would think of relatives first."

Must be crazy about money... Yu Dazhang was left speechless by his words.

This person must be mentally challenged too.

Even after being caught, he still believed this was Yang Jieru taking care of him.

I have to admit, Yang Jieru really knows people well.

The simpler-minded someone like Yang Ziliang is, the more suitable they are for managing money.

During the previous conversation, Yu Dazhang had been observing the changes in Yang Ziliang's expression.

Every one of his expressions was naturally revealed, without any abnormal reaction.

"Let's stop here."

Yu Dazhang said to Yang Ziliang:

"Someone from the Economic Crime Investigation Department will come to see you shortly; I hope you will confess truthfully."

There was no need to ask further; he had figured it out. Yang Ziliang was just a tool Yang Jieru used to launder money.

The key point still lies with Yang Jieru.

What exactly was this woman thinking, asking Yang Ziliang to transfer the money away but not telling him to hide?

Could it be she was afraid Yang Ziliang would run away with the money?

Twenty minutes later.

Inside another interrogation room.

Yu Dazhang looked at Yang Jieru across from him and said:

"Yang Ziliang has been caught."

Hearing his words, Yang Jieru only paused for a moment, then immediately came to her senses. Her face showed no sign of much surprise or any other expression; instead, she appeared very calm.

"So you still found him." She said, seemingly helplessly:

"He did not participate in our affairs; I hope you will not make things difficult for him."

What nonsense are you talking... Yu Dazhang glared at her:

"Money laundering is also a crime."

For someone like Yang Ziliang, it must be a heavy sentence.

The amount is right there on the table.

If money laundering exceeds five million, it is considered serious circumstances, with a minimum of five years.

If it exceeds ten million, it is considered especially serious circumstances, and the sentence is also at the maximum: a welcome ten years of fixed-term imprisonment.

The money Yang Ziliang laundered was in the hundreds of millions; for someone like him, there's no need for sentencing deliberation, just sentence him directly.

He should be grateful that the crime of money laundering does not carry the death penalty; otherwise, based on the amount he laundered, he would definitely be shot.

Seeing Yang Jieru lower her head and remain silent, Yu Dazhang frowned and asked:

"When you called Yang Ziliang, why didn't you tell him to hide?"

"I forgot." Yang Jieru raised her head and smiled at Yu Dazhang:

"In that situation at the time, we were trapped underground; being a bit panicked is quite reasonable, right?"

(End of this chapter)