Chapter 16 – Golden Shield (3)
Golden Shield Guild.
It is a mid-level hunter guild that is too small to be classified as a large one.
The guild members’ skills are considerable, but they don’t rush through raids or dungeons enthusiastically.
Rather the opposite.
The amount of activity in the Golden Shield Guild is quite risky.
It was barely enough to fill the quota set for each guild.
Average salaries are known to be substantial, but new hires are rare.
At the same time, it is a closed environment with few people leaving.
Besides, most of the members started their hunter life with the guild master.
‘It’s a family-like guild in a good way, but it’s a guild with no progress if you put it badly.’
A guild that makes money in other ways, not hunting, which is the hunter’s duty.
Alice clicked her tongue lightly as she continued to explain.
“Anyway, they’re the ones I don’t like.”
“Is that so? I think it’s natural that I don’t want to risk my life fighting monsters… But it’s also reasonable to want a source of income other than hunting.”
To be honest, this is not a hunting and gathering society.
It’s a little funny to say that hunters should focus on hunting, which is their duty.
Alice shook her fist at my honest impression.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Justice.”
“You say that kind of thing well and calmly.”
“Even if you say that… There is no problem with diversifying the guild’s income itself.”
As long as you don’t do anything illegal in the meantime.
When I added that, Alice smiled only then.
In fact, it would be rarer for a hunter who is obsessed with making money not to commit a crime.
General corporations do the same, but what about hunters with transcendental abilities?
After the witness investigation was roughly completed.
Seo Ji-yu brought the results of the survey of the saints rate, which he had visited earlier as a reference.
As a former financial civil servant, she looked over his account information.
It was a great choice.
“Team leader, this is the account statement of the saints rate.”
“Are there any suspicious circumstances?”
“Yes. I have a lot of savings, and I even have savings in the bank. But I have too much income. Look at this.”
“Well.”
The salary of the saints rate was at the top level in the industry, but…
Apart from that, he was receiving a huge bonus every quarter.
The level of this bonus significantly exceeds the annual salary.
This is why the navel is bigger than the stomach.
“It’s definitely suspicious. You’re getting 5 times the average A-rank salary, right? Even though Golden Shield isn’t such a popular guild.”
“That’s right. This is money that can only be received by members of the first group of a large guild.”
“What, Golden Shield guild members receive this much? That doesn’t make sense?”
Alice, who stole the account details from the side, was also surprised.
Seo Ji-yu took out the next material without hesitation.
“Looking at it, other guild members are receiving similarly. So I looked at where the money came from.”
What she took out was the accounting data submitted to the association by the Golden Shield Guild.
Seo Ji-yu was a civil servant in the financial industry, so of course he could see it.
She pointed to a portion of the company’s revenue that accounts for most of it.
“Here it is. Almost no income is earned from hunting, and most of it is earned from investments. In fact, it is not a hunter guild, but an investment company.”
“Investment? If it’s an investment… Stocks?”
“Yes. That is also short selling. It has been consistently making huge profits for more than 5 years.”
“What?”
These kids are scammers.
As soon as I heard Seo Ji-yu’s explanation, I decided that.
On the other hand, Lee Seo-woo and Alice looked confused as if they did not yet understand.
“What is short selling?”
“It’s borrowing and selling stocks you don’t currently own. To put it simply, it’s an investment method that benefits as the value of the target company declines.”
“I know about it. But why is that a problem?”
“Because it’s much easier to bring down the value of a target company than to increase it.”
It is always easier to tear down a tower that you have worked so hard for than to build it.
Instead of chattering, I went straight into verification.
“Can you see the target companies that were short-selling in Golden Shield?”
“Of course. I’ve put it together here.”
Seo Ji-yu seems to have the same suspicions as mine, and she revealed the following material.
“The previous target company was a company called ‘PFG Chemicals’ from 5 years ago, but now it has gone bankrupt.”
“The reason for bankruptcy?”
“A fire of unknown cause occurred in the company’s warehouse, causing irreparable damage. Thanks to this, Golden Shield made a huge profit.”
“!”
Only then did Alice and Lee Seo-woo seem to have noticed the situation.
A fire of unknown cause broke out in a company where Golden Shield sold short.
Isn’t it too strange to be a coincidence?
But once in a while it might just be a coincidence.
Seo Ji-yu announced her next record before such talk came out.
“Four years ago, Golden Shield sold Yoosung Corporation short. In March of the same year, the CEO of the company was arrested for drug use. He passed the physical examination, but was arrested for possession after drugs were found at his home. Golden Shield has achieved record profits.”
“Sir, I can’t believe the Golden Shield did that…”
“Right.”
Lee Seo-woo is still confused.
Just in time, the smartphones confiscated by Kim Jeong-tae, who was in charge of security, caught my eye.
I put my smartphones together and built a tower like Jenga.
“Seowoo, listen carefully. This smartphone tower is a company.”
“Yes, chief.”
“I’m going to play Jenga with this from now on. I’m running a company. But Alice bet that this company collapses. That’s short selling.”
I started playing Jenga, carefully tapping the top of my smartphone.
Of course, it doesn’t break down the first few times.
“If the company doesn’t collapse, Alice can’t make money. But a company that’s listed on the stock market doesn’t collapse so easily. Then, what should Alice do?”
“That, that… You’ll have to take down the tower yourself.”
As Lee Seo-woo explained, Alice stretches out her hand toward the smartphone tower.
I swatted her little hand away.
“The normal method doesn’t work. Golden Shield isn’t that big of a corporation.”
“Well, then…”
“It’s simple. You can use telekinesis to destroy the company without anyone noticing. That’s the surest way. That’s what Golden Shield is doing.”
When I gestured, Kim Jeong-tae knocked down the smartphone tower.
I just meant to take it well… But my loyalty was a little too much.
It was then that Lee Seo-woo seemed to understand.
“So, did you mean that you caused an accident by using your hunter ability after placing a short sale?”
“That’s it. If you use the Hunter ability, there will be no evidence left. You can take advantage very comfortably and safely.”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration…”
“11 out of 13 companies Golden Shield shorted fell. Seven of them closed completely. So, is this a coincidence?”
When Seo Ji-yu swallows a sigh and speaks, Lee Seo-woo can’t help but agree.
Alice begged me.
“Wait, I heard Hunters don’t commit financial crimes?”
“That’s right. Hunters as individuals don’t commit financial crimes. If they do, they get caught right away.”
I nodded in affirmation without hesitation.
My theory is no different than before.
“But the hunter guild commits financial crimes. Since the power is much stronger than the individual hunters, it’s worth trying against the financiers.”
“Well, then…”
“This is not an individual deviation from the Saints rate. It is a scam involving the entire Golden Shield guild.”
If the guild members are participating in these crimes, the Golden Shield Guild’s outrageous bonuses make sense.
It is the distribution of the proceeds of crime among the members.
I even woven Ahn Tae-yang, the missing person who started this case, all at once.
“There is a high probability that Mr. Ahn Taeyang, who is missing now, is also involved in the case. He was killed by members while trying to discover and report on corruption in the guild… First of all, we will investigate the Golden Shield guild incident.”
“Then, do you go straight into the search and seizure like last time?”
Lee Seo-woo, who seems to have enjoyed the search and seizure without a warrant, tries to pack up the equipment without hesitation.
Then Seo Ji-yu stopped it as if screaming.
“No!”
“Yes?”
“There’s no way they would have left any evidence even if they searched and seized the headquarters. The Financial Supervisory Service hasn’t moved properly yet.”
Of course, Lee Seo-woo did not suggest the search and seizure without thinking.
“However, I heard that short selling is borrowing and selling stocks that you do not currently own?
“Originally that’s right, but it’s not.”
“Yes? What the hell is that…”
“In Korea, the short selling process was not computerized until recently. So there is no guarantee that records are not tampered with.”
Lee Seo-woo reacted to Seo Ji-yu’s explanation as if he had been hit in the head by her.
“No… That doesn’t make sense. Then, every time you sold short, you wrote a letter on a piece of paper and recorded it?”
“Exactly. In the worst case, it could be an unlevered short sale.”
“Oh my gosh.”
If the management of short selling had been carried out in that way, the possibility of manipulation is sufficient.
At this point, I asked Seo Ji-yu a question.
“But now it’s computerized, isn’t it? Golden Shield has been selling shorts since 5 years ago until recently, so won’t something come out once it hits?”
“The computerization is also a complete mess… There was even a place where handwritten data was taken with a digital camera and uploaded.”
“…”
Anyway, Korea is a very comfortable and good country for scammers.
I looked at Seo Ji-yu again and applauded.
Definitely an expert in this field.
“That’s great. A former criminal of embezzlement as expected!”
“Ah! I worked really hard, but is it like this?”
“Even if you work hard, your sins will not be erased.”
Still, activity is activity.
I called Kim Jeong-tae, thinking that I shouldn’t let her run her coffee errands for the time being.
“Jungtae. In case you don’t know, go to the exchange and look for related records. Can you make sure that the Golden Shield doesn’t find out?”
“I will move quietly, chief.”
Kim Jeong-tae nodded without hesitation and left the office with two of her team members.
I plotted the strategy with the rest of the team.
“In order to catch them, it’s best to arrest them as red-handed criminals like last time. Are there any companies that the Golden Shield Guild is currently selling short?”
“Yes! Metascience, a pharmaceutical company whose earnings announcement is just around the corner.”
“How long have you been short? Do you not recognize that far?”
“No. Looking at it now… 55 days have passed.”
“The 55th? Everyone, prepare to mobilize right away! Hide around Metascience’s headquarters.”
My teammates hurriedly ran to the arsenal at my disobedience.
Alice, who was alone with an expression of leisure, asked with a puzzled look.
“Why are you suddenly in a hurry?”
“As I explained earlier, short selling is done by borrowing other people’s stock. So, of course, interest accrues periodically.”
The Korean stock market is a very favorable environment for short selling by institutions and foreigners, but…
Nevertheless, there is a time limit because of the interest.
In other words, the golden shield has a structure in which the longer the time is dragged, the greater the damage.
“But 55 days is already close. Depending on the conditions of the loan, the interest rate may increase as time passes… I thought they would unconditionally move within 60 days.”
Actually it is.
After completing the current criminal system, the golden shield caused an accident to the target company on the basis of approximately 60 days.
They must have thought that if they committed too quickly, they would be caught by the financial authorities.
In addition, a while ago, our office even received a witness investigation, so you want to get rid of short selling as soon as possible.
“Now that it’s like this, it wouldn’t be strange if they did something today. We have to start hiding before the sun goes down.”
“Aha.”
I simply took my personal firearm and climbed into the elevator.
After receiving an overtime report, Yeriel sent a crying emoticon to the messenger app.
