Chapter 1266: No Merit

The investigation by the Tax Bureau into Lans and the Wanli Group lasted until October, and only gradually ended before the Saint Nong Festival.

Subsequently, the entire investigation process was summarized into a report of more than five hundred pages, along with some evidence, and sent to the Federal Tax General Bureau.

After re-verification by the Federal Tax General Bureau, the result was sent to the Federal Presidential Office.

President Teri has been smooth sailing recently. There has been some breakthrough in diplomacy. Under his chairmanship, a "consultant team" has been sent to the Republic of Makan (a small country in the Yalan region) to help the Makan government carry out some reforms.

It is said to be helping, but it is actually actual rule. The ruling class of the Republic of Makan is still the role of ministers and the like on the surface, but the people who can really make decisions have been replaced by federal consultants.

This is what the ruling class of the Republic of Makan requested themselves. It is a country with a population of only a few million. The population counted is not even as large as the population of New Jincheng.

From a certain sense, the power of the President of the Republic of Makan is not even as great as the mayor of New Jincheng, nor can he enjoy as many resources as the mayor of New Jincheng.

So the local ruling class decided to just give the country to the Federation like this, and their ruling class, except for showing their faces when necessary, has now basically all moved to the Federation.

In the Federation, they can still enjoy special privileges and can obtain some dividends through cooperation with the federal government and federal consortia. This is much happier than continuing to be a poor president or a poor minister in a poor place.

This is also regarded by President Potter as an important achievement of the Federation's territorial expansion, and he plans to talk about this matter well in the year-end speech of his first year in office at the end of the year.

Apart from this, other aspects have also progressed very well. The Liberal Party is gradually encroaching on the government departments and institutions left by the Social Party, and power changes without smoke are proceeding slowly.

Although slow, there is no smoke, no fighting, and it is proceeding.

If there is anything else that makes him feel dissatisfied after taking office, there is basically not much.

The knocking on the door outside made him withdraw his attention from the children playing on the lawn outside the house. These children are the children of some officials.

His aide suggested that he choose a few days every month to let the children of some Presidential Palace officials participate in some weekend activities. On one hand, it reflects his characteristic of having love for children, and on the other hand, it is considered to strengthen the close connection between him and these employees of the Presidential Palace.

People will like a tough president during war, and will also like a gentle president during peace.

Now is not a time of war, so he must possess the qualities that can make people like him.

"Who is there?"

The aide by the door opened the door a crack, said a few words to the person outside, and then turned to President Potter. "People from the Federal Tax Bureau, they sent a material over."

President Potter seemed to think of something. The peaceful expression originally on his face had a bit of unnaturalness. Once he thought of that person, he had a physiological, deep-seated disgust, deep hatred!

He had never hated a person so much!

"Let him in."

The door opened. The deputy bureau chief of the Federal Tax Bureau, with two staff members, walked into the President's office carrying a briefcase.

The briefcase had already been checked outside to ensure there were no dangerous items inside, only paper.

There were also staff members with confidentiality levels who checked these documents to confirm that there were no poisonous or harmful things in the documents.

"Please sit down, gentlemen. I hope you can bring me some news worth my happiness."

President Potter seems not to like Lans, nor does he like Senator Cleveland and that group of people, which is something everyone knows. The Federal Tax Bureau chief, like all power departments, can only be determined by the President's nomination and the Assembly's vote.

The Tax Bureau is a very special department. The current bureau chief was not nominated by the previous federal president, but by the president before the previous one.

He has been operating in this position for more than twenty years and also has quite a few friends in the Assembly.

After President Potter took office, he tried to replace the Tax Bureau chief with his own people. He submitted the nomination of the new Federal Tax Bureau chief to the Assembly, but it was rejected by the Assembly.

The reason is that the Senate doesn't think it is necessary to replace this Tax Bureau chief, which also includes some Liberal Party senators.

President Potter was a bit unhappy about this. He felt that these Liberal Party senators who voted against him betrayed the pure political friendship between them, but he didn't emphasize or demand more, and this matter was shelved.

Fortunately, this Tax Bureau chief is still impartial. Whether it is a report against the Liberal Party or a report against the Social Party, he will handle it, which also makes President Potter have no big dissatisfaction with this person, just feeling that this person was not nominated by himself, and might not be on the same line as himself at a critical moment.

But in the entire federal government system, this is not the only high-level department official not nominated by him, so it can only be like this for the time being.

When he reaches the peak of his power in his next term, he will try to replace these positions with his own people again and put his own brand on them.

Now, he can only endure it first.

The deputy bureau chief listened to President Potter's words and revealed some awkward smiles. He was not as hard-headed as the bureau chief, not even coming to report work in person, and this investigation result was a bit unexpected.

His stiff smile also made President Potter foresee the investigation result this time, and the emotion he expressed was not as high as it was at the beginning.

"Tell me, what have you discovered?"

The deputy bureau chief opened the briefcase, took out several file bags, and placed them on the table.

"This report about the Wanli Group...", he carefully glanced at the President. They told others that someone "anonymously reported," but in fact, this reporter was President Potter.

He called the Tax Bureau and said that someone reported to him here, saying that the Wanli Group was suspected of tax fraud, and asked the Tax Bureau to investigate.

As for who exactly reported it, they wouldn't keep asking President Potter. They knew that person must be President Potter himself, so they came directly to report to the President after having the results.

He looked at President Potter sitting on the chair with an expressionless face, waiting for him to continue, and then continued. "... After our careful investigation, we didn't find any tax evasion problems with them."

He said this and unfolded the documents in the file bag. "Inside are the evidence we obtained, as well as the process and results of the investigation. We attached great importance to it after receiving the report and transferred elites to investigate this case."

President Potter picked up a few documents and read them. While reading, he listened to the deputy bureau chief chattering about the investigation process of the case.

After putting down the documents in his hand, he frowned. "Are you sure you really investigated seriously?"

"This document says the Wanli Group didn't even

This sounds simply incredible!

Almost all capitalists in the Federation, even the operators of small shops on the roadside, are finding ways to engage in legal tax avoidance.

Those professional tax accountants will help them carry out some tax avoidance activities, even if in the end they can only reduce their tax burden by a few dozen dollars.

Tax avoidance has become one of the most basic means for operators to ensure their own interests, just like... how a hobbyist needs to find something that can bring them a little feeling before they "get to work."

Whether it is pictures, novels, videos, or anything else, in short, there must be such a process.

Otherwise, they aren't that perverted, just sitting there dryly without stirring up any emotions to "get to work."

Including President Porter himself, as well as the Porter family's industries, they have all carried out a large amount of tax avoidance; some might even be illegal, exploiting loopholes in the law.

But what are the investigation results before me?

The Wanli Group has no tax avoidance behavior whatsoever; they pay taxes on exactly how much money they earn, not a cent less!

Is this preparation for toppling the Wanli Group, or an investigation to commend them?

Facing President Porter's gaze, which looked somewhat like that of someone angry after being deceived, the deputy director could only bite the bullet and say, "The results of our investigation are just like this; every entry and exit of the accounts is very clear, distinct, and has a trail that can be traced."

"The level of perfection in their bookkeeping is considered very detailed throughout the entire Federation."

"Of course, we also considered that such detailed bookkeeping might be where the problem lies, but the various materials and evidence they provided are too sufficient—sufficient to the point that we couldn't find any problems even with a microscope!"

President Porter was so angry he laughed, "I doubt your work capability!"

This sentence made the deputy director's face flush; he pursed his lips, squeezed out a smile, and said nothing, but anyone could see his attitude of disapproval.

President Porter threw the documents back, "Then what about the personal investigation into Lans?"

"The wealth he possesses far exceeds what the Wanli Group could bring him; don't you dare tell me there's no problem with this too!"

The deputy director tidied up the scattered documents on the desk and began to open another file bag, "I am very sorry, Mr. President, our personal investigation into Lans... also did not uncover any loopholes or problems."

"He personally has strictly paid taxes according to the standards of federal tax law."

As he spoke, he handed over a portion of the documents, "This is the audit we did on his assets; it contains the process and some supporting evidence."

Looking at these documents, President Porter was quiet for a good while; he even specifically put on his glasses and really looked for a while, then took them off with a large movement and leaned his head back, closing his eyes to rest for a moment.

"Speak, I don't want to look anymore."

The deputy director had already sorted out everything before coming, and he said softly, "Lans's income is composed of several parts; the largest income among them is the Golden Casino and the Jincheng Casino, followed by his distillery..."

President Porter interrupted him, "I remember we are still maintaining Prohibition; what is going on with his distillery?"

The deputy director explained with patience, "His distillery is a cooperative project with the Department of Defense and is considered a defense supplier; the Department of Defense and the Assembly specially issued him a license, allowing him to legally produce, store, and transport alcohol."

After hearing this, President Porter couldn't help but laugh a few times; he remembered this matter, having mocked it before—this was typical power-for-money trading.

But this matter involved the military and the Department of Defense, and he, as President, had no way to intervene.

The Secretary of Defense he appointed is still, damn it, like a display piece, only able to sit in the office and stare blankly; wanting to make the Department of Defense and the military cancel their cooperation with Lans is almost impossible!

He heard that Lans also knows quite a few generals in the Army and maintains a very good relationship with them.

The federal system looks... quite good, splitting power and handing it to different groups, but in reality, this is just a way to fool ghosts.

The ruling class of the federal government has always been those people—those whose ancestors appeared in that famous oil painting.

And the military, just like the federal government, is also something that looks like it has no problems, but in reality, it is also always held in the hands of a few families.

This is actually a very simple matter, even easier to operate than the federal government.

The military is a place of dictatorship and absolute obedience to superiors' orders; as long as a general's brain isn't too dull, they have many ways to ensure that before they retire, their children and family members monopolize the high-level officer and high-level general positions within their own lineage.

The entire Army, Navy, and Air Force have become the private domains of these military families, forming one interest group after another, firmly holding onto officer power starting from the company level all the way up to the level of military district commander.

A president changes every few years, while these political families and military families have already existed for two or three hundred years, and it is very difficult for them to intervene in each other's territory.

For a president to want to interfere with the decisions of the Department of Defense and the military is basically a joke.

If it weren't for the fact that this war is also a huge opportunity for the military, they could completely tell the president that if he says fight, they refuse to fight.

Just like the previous declaration of war by the Imperial Emperor against the Federation; the president stated he would fight, but the Department of Defense and the military simply ignored him, stating they would not fight.

So, Lans, this defense supplier, really isn't someone the president can just replace whenever he wants.

He sat there staring blankly for a while; every time a matter involving Lans came up, he always found it hard not to be angry. He couldn't help but curse twice, then continued to ask, "He sells alcohol to the public in several states; was this part of the income also taxed?"

The deputy director was silent for a long time; it wasn't until President Porter asked again that he seemed to come back to his senses, "Mr. President... this matter... I don't know how to say it."

As he spoke, he found some content from the documents and handed it over, "When we were investigating Lans's personal property, we discovered that a portion of his money came from art auctions, not from the sale of alcohol."

"And regarding the alcohol issue, although we are not the Prohibition Bureau, we also conducted some investigations."

"According to our investigation, their alcohol is often robbed by bandits during the transportation process, and the quantity is not small; every time, they report it to the police, but it is very difficult to catch these robbers."

As he spoke, he also took out a compiled set of documents, which recorded over a hundred police reports and their final results.

President Porter shook his head continuously while looking at these documents; it wasn't that he didn't recognize the authenticity of these documents and evidence, but rather he was lamenting Lans's cunning.

The documents mentioned that "Golden Lion Alcohol" is a common type of moonshine in society, but it is not the alcohol Lans sells.

Everything Lans transports externally is barrel-aged alcohol in oak barrels; he has never sold bottled alcohol. Those bottled alcohols were all canned by the robbers themselves after they were stolen, and they were sold under the guise of Golden Lion Alcohol.

Lans reported it to the police many times, but never got any results.

Without a doubt, the entire law enforcement system is Lans's people; of course, they wouldn't catch themselves. He just used some very simple methods to distance himself.

You say those alcohols are their alcohol?

He directly denies it; those are all knock-offs, all counterfeit products. The law is such that whoever makes the claim must provide the proof.

You assert your point of view, believing this is alcohol sold by Lans, then you must find a way to find the people selling this alcohol and dig out from their mouths that this alcohol comes from Lans.

And small-time characters won't do; they can't form a closed loop of evidence and witnesses. You need higher-level characters, the kind of high-level people who can cover the entire sales system.

But for this kind of person, if you catch them, they will only take the blame for everything themselves. They will admit they are the bootleggers, the ones selling counterfeit and inferior products—what else can you do?

Only people Lans can trust can come into contact with the core family business. These people's interests, and even their lives, are highly bound to Lans; they cannot betray Lans, because betraying Lans is equivalent to betraying themselves.

Admitting to the crime of selling alcohol is at most ten or twenty years in prison, but betraying Lans means the whole family dies.

Moreover, even if they go to jail, Lans has ways to get them out.

So everyone knows how to choose.

At this moment, President Porter had completely figured it out; this is an unsolvable problem. From top to bottom, they are all colluding together, plus a group of people who will not betray him.

Through this method, there is simply no way to get rid of Lans; he is almost flawless when it comes to criminal issues!

That dirty money can be washed clean through some simple methods, and one could even say there isn't much of a service fee, because he can wash it himself.

Casinos, various businesses he operates—falsely reporting some figures, there is simply no way to investigate it.

A gambler enters a casino and leaves an hour later; if the casino says he lost a certain amount of money, then that is how much he lost.

Lans gets some art pieces and auctions them off externally; you can't demand that those anonymous sellers be forbidden from spending money to buy his art.

The President sighed, appearing somewhat helpless, and waved his hand, "Alright, put the things away; I know."

The deputy director carefully probed, "Then do we still need to continue the investigation?"

President Porter opened his eyes and glanced at him, "No need."

"Take your things and get out of my office!"

He is very clear that to deal with Lans, he can no longer deal with him directly; he must deal with the Social Party.

Only when this current batch of people in the Social Party falls will Lans fall!

(End of chapter)