CH110 | VOC

“20 tons is worth 400 billion won. Do you understand that we can surpass our sales from two years ago just by circulating it ten times?”

The trading companies’ annual sales had been declining due to the economic crisis and exchange rate fluctuations.

Annual sales were the primary indicator of a company’s performance and financial health, so declining sales were a dangerous sign for a publicly traded company like MG, just as serious as a cash shortage.

There were many ways to increase sales, but the most effective ones were illegal.

One common method was creative accounting, manipulating the books to make the company appear healthier. But the risk and the potential penalties were severe enough to threaten the company’s existence. The hot potato scheme, on the other hand, was less risky and highly effective.

MG, which had been the top trading company two years ago with 8 trillion won in annual sales, had now fallen to 3 trillion won.

If they could restore their sales to their peak by circulating the gold ten times, the tangible and intangible benefits would far outweigh the 10% VAT refunds.

“Restructure the shell companies. Make them larger and more secure. Select trustworthy employees and plug all the holes. Understand?”

“B-but sir, if the shell companies become too large, they’ll attract attention.”

Song Young-mo shouted, “You idiot! Was it better when they were small?”

“But what if the National Tax Service gets involved…?”

“I’ll handle that. Just do your job! Did you find out who spread the rumors?”

“I’m sorry, sir. The rumors spread so quickly among the dealers that we haven’t been able to identify the source yet.”

Song Young-mo said angrily, “You’re useless! What can you even do?!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Someone intentionally spread those rumors. It doesn’t make sense for them to spread so widely before we even started the scheme. Find them. Understand?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Now get out of here and do something!”

The secretary hesitated. “What should we do about the employees who stole the gold?”

“…I want to sue them and recover the money.”

A large corporation like MG Trading could easily ruin an individual.

But officially, the shell company was just a client, so they couldn’t intervene directly.

The shell company would have to take legal action, but by then, the company would be gone.

And if the prosecution got involved and the scale of the fraud was revealed, MG would be the biggest loser.

They couldn’t burn down their house to get rid of a few fleas.

Song Young-mo clutched his head. “Threaten them and make them return the money. They’re ignorant of the law, so you should be able to persuade them.”

The secretary wanted to ask what would happen if they didn’t comply, but he didn’t want to provoke Song Young-mo any further.

He bowed his head and left. Song Young-mo sighed.

“We’ve contained the situation for now, but…”

They had replaced the missing gold and tightened security.

It was the best they could do.

The rumors would die down eventually, and the public outcry wouldn’t change anything.

“The problem is the other trading companies.”

Even MG, which had been so confident in its preparations, had lost 8%. The other companies must have lost even more.

“I hope they don’t do anything stupid…”

All the trading companies wanted to maintain the status quo, but their circumstances differed.

MG Group, having restructured and regained some competitiveness through the rising exchange rate, was relatively stable. But some companies were on the brink of collapse.

The gold cartel had been formed based on mutual interest:

Profit from VAT refunds and increased sales. But the thieves had turned profit into loss.

MG, still having some leeway, was willing to accept the loss to maintain its sales. But other companies, desperate for every penny, might not make the same decision.

Song Young-mo stood up with a hardened expression.

“I need to meet with the other CEOs.”

But the situation was worse than he thought.

The seven trading companies had tightened their security at Song Young-mo’s urging, but they hadn’t anticipated one thing:

The thieves weren’t just outsiders.

“Brother-in-law, what should we do?”

“Just wait, I’ll figure something out.”

“What’s there to figure out? We have to find those bastards and get our money back!”

“Just wait! It’s not that simple!”

The “brother-in-law” was a managing director at Taeho Trading, one of the seven trading companies.

He was, of course, involved in the scheme.

And he had come up with a plan.

He had his brother-in-law insert himself into the triangular cycle of shell company – trading company – overseas company.

Instead of delivering the gold directly to Taeho Trading, the shell company would sell a portion to his brother-in-law, who would then resell it to Taeho Trading.

It was a good opportunity to make hundreds of millions of won with each cycle, just by circulating 5 billion won.

It was essentially embezzlement, but the amount was negligible compared to the total volume, and he could easily manipulate the records with his authority.

If everything had gone according to plan.

“Almost 10% is missing! We have to sue them and get our money back!”

“No, it’ll make things worse.”

“What’s worse than this? You said I would make money, but I’m losing money!”

“Ugh.”

His brother-in-law’s perspective was different from the trading company’s.

He was just a parasite, looking for a quick buck. He didn’t care about the long-term consequences.

“We can’t let this slide. I lost 300 million won on a single transaction. We have to recover it.”

The managing director thought for a moment.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do. Hide the 10% shortage and deliver the rest to the company.”

“What?”

“Everything is a mess right now because of the counterfeit gold. I’ll manipulate the records and make it look like a normal delivery. We’ll just say the missing gold was stolen from somewhere else.”

His brother-in-law’s face brightened.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, 10% is only 500 million won. The thieves at the shell company stole over 30 billion won. Adding another 500 million won won’t make a difference.”

“That’s perfect! You’re the best, brother-in-law!”

“This is only possible because things are chaotic right now. There won’t be a next time. Manage your employees properly and keep a close eye on them. Understand?”

“Yes, thank you.”

After the managing director left, his brother-in-law spat on the floor.

“Tsk, this is disgusting. Taking all the credit after I did all the work.”

It was his brother-in-law who had suggested the plan in the first place.

The profit split was 70/30, with him taking the 30%.

“At least I won’t lose money… but is this really okay?”

He had gotten away with it this time, but there was no guarantee it would work next time.

His brother-in-law was a managing director at a large corporation, so he could afford a loss. But he had put everything he had into this.

His desperation was different.

“Those bastards.”

He was furious that they couldn’t punish the employees who had stolen the gold.

He knew the gold came from the gold collection campaign, but that wasn’t a reason to let them get away with it.

“Damn it, I didn’t collect the gold. I’m just a middleman. Why am I suffering because of them?”

He paced back and forth, fuming, and then suddenly said,

“Wait, he’s shifting the loss to Taeho Trading? Hmm, does it have to be just 10%? I could report a 15% loss and pocket the extra 5%. That’s 2.5 billion won.”

He thought it was a good idea and reached for his phone to call his brother-in-law, but then hesitated.

“But I’ll only get 30% of that…”

His eyes gleamed.

“Screw it. I’ll just tell him I made a mistake and lost an extra 5%. 2.5 billion won is not a small amount. It’s a small price to pay for a scolding.”

And he wasn’t the only one.

It was a small crack, a seemingly insignificant act of embezzlement, but its ripple effect was massive.

The seven trading companies, which had thought they had contained the situation, were experiencing unexplained losses, and the amounts were growing rapidly.

But we, the ones who had started this, were unaware of the true situation.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

Park Jong-bum said calmly,

“It’s only been two weeks since we spread the rumors among the dealers. Let’s wait a little longer.”

I clicked my tongue.

“It seems the trading companies have tightened their security.”

“But there are rumors in Myeongdong that a significant amount of gold has been stolen.”

It was difficult to estimate the damage we had inflicted, as we had instigated thousands of thieves.

It was a secret, so everyone was keeping quiet.

I said, looking at the TV,

“The gold collection campaign is still going strong.”

While we were fighting over the gold collected from the public, oblivious people were still donating their gold to “save the country.”

And the amount was increasing.

“That would be a great source of income. Such a waste.”

The grass is always greener on the other side.

Our plan seemed to be working, but something was missing.

“Should we spread the rumors to the public?”

Park Jong-bum strongly opposed the idea.

“Spreading rumors among dealers and spreading rumors to the public are completely different. It’s not worth the risk of exposure.”

“But still… hmm…”

It was so frustrating.

We had laid the groundwork, but we were missing the final piece of the puzzle.

The decisive blow.

As I was licking my lips in frustration, Maru knocked on the door and entered.

“Hyung, we have a call from China.”

“From where?”

“The secondhand electronic components department store. They’re saying there’s a shortage of MLCCs and asking if we should raise the price.”

“MLCCs?”

MLCCs were essential semiconductor components that stored and released electricity, similar to memory chips.

They were used in almost all electronic devices, so the demand was high, but the supply was also high, so the price had been stable.

“How much of a shortage is it?”

“They’re almost out.”

“What happened? Why the sudden shortage?”

Maru frowned.

“The counterfeit factories are buying them up. I don’t know why.”

“Counterfeit factories, huh. What are the popular counterfeit products these days?”

Maru thought for a moment.

“Tamagotchis have been popular since last year, but I don’t know about anything else.”

Park Jong-bum said,

“Maybe it’s just the growth of the counterfeit market. Other semiconductors have specific functions, but MLCCs are essential.”

“That could be it. Other semiconductors have substitutes, but not MLCCs. The Chinese counterfeit market is amazing. It keeps growing, thanks to us, of course.”

The secondhand electronic components business and the Chinese counterfeit market were growing together, supporting each other.

The growth of the counterfeit market meant more customers for us.

“Tell them to raise the price. The restorers will work harder if the price is higher.”

“Yes, sir.”

Maru left, and I turned to Park Jong-bum.

“The China business is doing well, but what about the gold collection campaign? Any ideas?”

“I still think it’s best to just wait and see…”

“It’s so frustrating. I’m so close. I need something decisive…”

The word “counterfeit” suddenly came to mind.

“Hmm? Counterfeit? Oh. Hmm.”

Park Jong-bum, seeing the familiar glint in my eye, said hopefully,

“Did you come up with something?”

I said, still lost in thought,

“The final blow. The final blow to corner the trading companies. If there isn’t one, can’t we just create one?”