Chapter 463: Lawsuit Progress and Bar Specialties

The Commissioner is currently discussing some issues regarding this lawsuit with their public relations team. It is very clear that the New Jincheng Court is siding with the locals.

Although there is no evidence to prove a direct link between the Garden Trading Company and the Lansi family, the lawyer appearing for the Garden Trading Company this time is a friend of Lawyer Luo Ben.

Lawyer Luo Ben has been serving Lansi for over a year now; there is an inevitable connection between them.

The verdict here in New Jincheng has led the Commissioner and the legal team he brought to believe that they were influenced by outside-court factors, so they cannot win this lawsuit locally. They can only pin their hopes on the appellate court.

"We have already secured the relationships with four of the adjudicators. The appellate court will definitely accept the appeal, but this does not mean we will be able to obtain what we want."

"Whether it's winning the case or anything else, it will not be easy at all."

"I had someone ask around..." the team's legal consultant said, pausing for a moment, "The father of Luo Ben's wife graduated from the Jinzhou University School of Law, and he is an alumnus of many people in the Department of Justice."

"He himself also served as a judge in the High Court, up until now!"

"However, there is one piece of good news: Luo Ben and his wife have already divorced, though the reason is not very clear."

The Commissioner listened very seriously to the reports from these people. He came to solve problems, not to live here long-term.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "The appellate court cannot solve our problems in the short term. We must prepare some follow-up disposal plans. Additionally, we need extra ways to exert pressure so that Lansi and the people of the Lansi family will take the initiative to negotiate with us."

He was unaware that the Board of Directors had already decided to take underhanded action against Lansi. Because this news was too private, no one else knew about it except for the members of the Board of Directors.

As for who specifically would be sent to do it and when, that was known only to the Chairman of the Board, the President, and the executor themselves.

Just as they were discussing the remaining countermeasures, the telephone rang suddenly. It was a call from the hotel front desk, saying that two police officers wanted to see them.

The Commissioner did not refuse and let the front desk bring the police officers up.

He had people tidy up the things on the table briefly, then took a legal consultant to the reception hall.

They had booked a suite, which had an office, a study, two reception halls, and a living room.

A few minutes later, two police officers entered from outside. The Commissioner took the initiative to stand up, but he did not go forward to greet them; instead, he stood by the sofa.

"Hello, I am the police officer in charge of managing the dock case at the Port Branch, and this is my partner."

The sudden visit of the two police officers left the Commissioner a bit confused, but he did not show the appearance of not understanding. Instead, he reached out to shake their hands and then invited them to sit down.

"I remember I didn't..." he flipped his wrist, signaling that he hadn't asked them to come over.

The first police officer to speak smiled and said, "I contacted the General Manager of the... branch of the Liji Group stationed in New Jincheng. He said that you are the ones in charge of this case here."

"The branch reported the case earlier; they suspect that the wheat sprouting was man-made, an act of commercial sabotage."

"We have taken the case and have been conducting detailed investigation and detective work."

The Commissioner remembered this matter. When the General Manager was coordinating this case with him, he had mentioned that they had already reported it to the police.

But he had also learned through other channels that in New Jincheng, gang forces were almost overriding the police system. Expecting these police officers to clear up gang crimes was simply impossible.

Of course, those small gangs were not included in this; this referred to the five major families, including the Lansi family.

So from the very beginning, he did not think reporting to the police was a meaningful move. Of course, it was necessary because the judicial process was like that, but he had no expectations for the results of reporting to the police.

He crossed his legs and nodded slightly, "So, do you have any progress now?"

He said this and laughed twice, "If you need some investigation funds, we might not be able to provide them."

Due to issues like police resource allocation, during this period and for a long time afterward, there were cases where the reporter of a crime paid the police to get them to solve the case.

To put it nicely, it was sponsoring the police with some funds to solve the case; to put it bluntly, it was that the police wouldn't move without receiving money.

It wasn't just New Jincheng that was like this; the entire Federation was like this. It was a symbol of the era.

You couldn't say it was entirely the police's problem. Like some cases that required a large number of police to do basic work, you couldn't have the entire branch, or the police of the entire city, do nothing but focus on one case. That was unreasonable and impossible.

If the reporter was very wealthy, then they could spend money to gain support. The police would then requisition some temporary police to be responsible for the investigation of the case.

Or they would mobilize some police from surrounding areas without major police situations, including state police, forest police, road police, and the like, to cooperate in handling the case.

Mobilizing these police required money, so this money was used there.

But there were also police in some places who would use this method as a means of "extorting money."

If you didn't give money, they would follow the regulations in the work manual and send two police officers to be responsible for the case.

From the process, there was no problem, but if it was that kind of big case, or a more troublesome case, the investigation work might last for several years.

The reporter spending money to speed up the investigation progress was an unspoken social rule.

The Commissioner thought they were here to extort money, so he didn't speak very politely.

After all, for this case, the police's assistance was not a plus, because from the beginning, the police could not possibly be on their side!

Hearing the Commissioner's impolite words, the expressions of the two police officers also changed slightly, but they did not forget the reason they came here today.

One of the police officers said, "You misunderstood. We came here to tell you that we have already found some clues and have basically locked onto some possible suspects."

The Commissioner's eyes widened slowly, and the legal consultant beside him also had an expression of disbelief. Since when were the police in New Jincheng so capable?

And, did they not care about the influence of the Lansi family on them?

They didn't understand at all!

Watching the two of them look dumbfounded, the police officer smiled and continued, "Later, some conflicts occurred on the dock. Through our understanding, questioning, and investigation of these people, we found some clues."

"The staff of the Liji Group might have had some problems in their work with several workers on the dock. The workers generally felt that your employees were too arrogant, and they would use vicious and mean language to provoke the workers on the dock."

"So several workers might have developed a desire for revenge because of these reasons."

"We have already arrested two of them. They confessed that doing so was just to vent the dissatisfaction in their hearts."

"The other several people have already fled. We have already applied for a wanted warrant. I believe they will be brought to justice soon."

"I came to notify you because your company reported the case. Now the case has made progress, that's all."

"After the others are brought to justice, and after interrogation, we will give you an accurate result."

"You can decide whether to assert your legal rights based on the materials and testimony we provide."

"Of course, let me say one thing privately: these people are dirt poor; they might not even be able to take out a hundred dollars!"

The police officer smiled, "That is all we have to say. If there are no other questions, we are going to leave."

The Commissioner glanced at the legal consultant, and the latter hurriedly asked, "Can we go and contact those... suspects?"

The police officer nodded, "Within the scope permitted by law, of course you can."

"However, we will send people to watch you, and we will record the audio."

"If there are no other questions, we are going to leave. The police station still has a lot of work to do."

This news came too suddenly. The legal consultant shook his head, and the Commissioner was even less likely to have any questions. This time, they took the initiative to send the two police officers to the door, and the legal consultant even sent them to the elevator entrance!

After returning to the room, the expressions of the people on the legal team were not very good, which also made the Commissioner realize that the problem might not be very good.

This is very interesting; the criminals were found, but the problem has become troublesome.

So it is said that sometimes catching the criminals doesn't necessarily mean things have gotten better; instead, it might get even worse!

After returning from outside, the legal consultant sat down and lit a cigarette, "Not catching them early, not catching them late, now they suddenly caught these criminals. This is not a good thing for us, and it looks like they intend to send them directly to court through the prosecutor."

The Commissioner frowned. He already had some guesses in his heart, but he wasn't a law graduate, he didn't understand very well, he needed an explanation, "What problem will this cause?"

The legal consultant said, "We have been pushing to treat the entire case as one case. Then, in terms of judicial procedure and judicial logic, there are many things that need to be proven, which is conducive to us dragging the case out."

"But now, if the local prosecutor directly prosecutes these workers, then it can prove the point advocated by the lawyer of the Garden Trading Company: the wheat sprouting and the liquidated damages claimed by the Garden Trading Company are two independent cases with no connection at all."

"The appellate court will very likely reject the appeal and uphold the original verdict."

Once the original verdict is upheld, the Garden Trading Company can demand mandatory enforcement!

If they are unwilling to execute, they will not only face huge liquidated damages but also late fees and judicial punitive fines for resisting enforcement!

You have to know, punitive fines are not a joke. Many enterprises might not be able to withstand this heavy judicial blow!

In cases that have already occurred in the Federation, because of cases involving a few hundred, a few thousand, or a bit more, a few tens of thousands of dollars, there have been punitive fines of hundreds of thousands or millions!

Some enterprises were directly hammered down by one punch!

The Liji Group will definitely not be hammered down, but it will definitely not be very comfortable!

This time is different from the last time. Last time, they could still find other problems to drag the case out indefinitely, for example, they thought Lansi had colluded with the assessor and also forged evidence.

Because the assessor and the evidence they forged happened in Jinzhou, they submitted these to the Jinzhou Court, not the New Jincheng Court.

That was their home field, they could drag the case out endlessly, but this time, it has nothing to do with the assessor, and the trial is very fast and very simple.

Their previous plan has now also failed.

The Commissioner's brow furrowed, "Then we have no way at all?"

Several legal employees looked at each other, and finally, someone said, "The only thing we can do now is to start from the suspects' side."

The Commissioner also couldn't help but light a cigarette. He hugged his arms and raised his chin, "Continue."

"We must get the suspect to admit that there is actually someone behind the scenes directing this, and then find a way to link this mastermind to the Garden Trading Company. This way, we will have time to supplement our evidence to prove our point of view."

"At least we can drag it out for a few months. During this time, we can continue to try to turn the entire case into contract fraud according to our previous ideas, then dragging it out for a few years will be no problem."

The Commissioner nodded and exhaled a large cloud of smoke, "So now the core of the case lies with those suspects?"

The legal consultant nodded, I'm afraid that's the case.

The Commissioner sat there thinking for a while, "I will find a way to create a time for you to be alone. You must complete your work."

He said this and stood up, "I'm going to make a phone call..."

Although he didn't graduate with a major in law, he knew some shallow things more or less.

For example, they definitely had to study these suspects and find a key person who was easy to "break through" from among them, and then find a way to find a method to persuade the other party.

And he, what he had to do now, was to provide convenience for these things.

Soon he made the call to a capitalist in the Bay Area who had a close cooperative relationship with the Liji Group, and with the other party acting as an intermediary, he met Director Hunter.

As long as Hunter nodded here, there would be a way for their lawyer to contact the suspect alone.

Because he was in a hurry about this matter, and the intermediary was also willing to contact Hunter for him, he soon left the hotel and headed to the City Police Station.

And in the office of the Chief of the City Police Station, he met Director Hunter.

Hunter, like Chali, was a loyal running dog of the Bay Area, or rather, they knew better than anyone else who the real master of this city was!

The call from the Bay Area let him meet this visitor, so he cleared his schedule.

When the Commissioner handed over his business card, Hunter only then knew that it was someone from the Liji Group.

The smile on his face became even more abundant. As a monopoly-type enterprise with annual profits of tens of millions or hundreds of millions, in front of such a behemoth, he, a police chief, was just a small character.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he lowered his posture.

The Commissioner was still very reserved in front of such a small character, of course, behind the reserve was arrogance.

"My lawyer needs to be alone with a suspect for a while. They have some things they want to talk about."

This was not according to the rules, but the rules did not restrict these big capitalists. Hunter's face was full of smiles, and he agreed without even asking, "This is just a small matter, I will arrange it for you!"

The Commissioner's face also had a few more smiles, "You have gained my friendship, Director Hunter!"

Director Hunter did not know how much price he would have to pay in the future for this friendship that he actually didn't need, but at least he was happy now!

Everything was constantly advancing according to the script.

During this period, an interesting thing actually happened. When Lansi promised these workers who were taking the blame that he would get them out of prison as soon as possible, two of them even took the initiative to ask if they could serve the full length of their sentence without missing a single day?

After all, the "work" that paid nearly two hundred dollars a month was the highest income opportunity they had ever encountered in their lives!

Leaving prison and this opportunity, they were unlikely to encounter such a high-income opportunity again in their lives!

Ten years might be a long time, but if you look at it as a job, then it might not be that long.

And Lansi guaranteed that they wouldn't be bullied inside; the Lansi family also had their own people inside who could take care of them.

Then all they had to do every day was work just like they did outside, but the difference was that the working hours inside were only ten hours, and there was free lunch and dinner every day, plus days off...

Where the hell could you find such a good job?

Ten years, twenty thousand dollars; miss this opportunity, they were unlikely to encounter it again in their lives!

However, Lansi ultimately did not agree, which made them a bit disappointed.

Later, Erwen told Lansi that there were still people outside willing to take the initiative to lower the price to take the blame; some even reported one thousand dollars a year.

This might be taken as a joke by people, but Lansi felt that this was actually a social problem of not being able to make money.

After the strike problem in the middle period, the income of the dock had actually increased quite a bit, to forty dollars or more per capita.

But the entire society, the economic market, was still in a lifeless state, and some people had already noticed that something was wrong.

Before this, the Federation had already experienced several Great Depressions, and the current situation seemed to have some signs.

These two days, after the trial operation of the bar in the Starlight District ended, it began to officially go into operation. Although business was not as good as before it closed, overall it was still okay.

At the same time, the bar manager also raised a new problem—

"We need to expand some business."

"The people who come here to drink need some girls. You know, if it's only them, they might only drink one glass of wine."

"But if there is a sensible girl, they might drink a whole bottle of wine!"

"We are too clean here now; we can't attract those young people who are rich and willing to spend money..." ===== CHAPTER 464 =====