CH144 | VOC

From suspicions of accounting fraud to a plummeting stock price, Chairman Kim Hoo-joong and his two sons scrambled to salvage the situation, but their efforts were like trying to hold back a flood with a broom. Their closest allies, the shareholders who should have been their support, were abandoning the sinking ship, accelerating Daehoo’s downfall.

As the allegations of accounting fraud, fueled by Kim Min-sik, proved true, the prosecution couldn’t stand idly by. After a month-long investigation and seizure of documents, the results were shocking.

At least 10 trillion won out of Daehoo’s 60 trillion won in total assets was fictitious, inflated through accounting fraud. And based on the revised figures, their debt-to-equity ratio was a staggering 500%.

And that wasn’t all. More irregularities were being uncovered.

The news sent shockwaves through the banks and investors who had lent money to Daehoo. Sensing the company’s imminent collapse, they scrambled to recover their funds.

And Chunha Trading was making a killing.

“Okay, Daehoo’s mobile phones go to warehouse number one. What? It’s full? Uh… then clear out the scrap yard, set up a tent, and store them temporarily. They’ll be gone tonight when the container arrives. What? More are coming?”

When a giant like Daehoo collapsed, its subsidiaries and subcontractors couldn’t escape unscathed.

Chunha Trading, Korea’s premier scrap and used goods company, was overflowing with inventory and dumped goods from Daehoo and other companies.

Of course, we weren’t buying them directly. It was too risky.

The other junkyards were contacting Daehoo employees, acquiring the goods, and then delivering them to us. I was making money effortlessly.

And the Daehoo employees probably didn’t even know where the goods were going.

Intermediaries, whether in scrap or any other industry, preferred to keep their clients separate. If the two sides met and started dealing directly, the intermediary would be cut out.

They were just trying to make a profit from the margin, but their actions allowed me to remain hidden in the shadows.

“I’m the one who brought them down, but everyone’s trying to get a piece of the pie.”

The scavengers were diverse.

CEOs of failing subcontractors.

Daehoo’s inventory managers.

Even Daehoo executives.

The loyal servants of Daehoo were now scrambling to grab their share.

“This is why I can’t trust anyone.”

They might have been loyal before, but it was a capitalist loyalty, based on their high salaries and the prestige of working for a large corporation.

Now that Daehoo was collapsing, they were the first to betray it.

“Loyalty… Is there such a thing as loyalty beyond money?”

Even I enjoyed the unquestioning loyalty of my heihaizi.

But that loyalty was also based on a foundation of money.

In the capitalist world, the foundation of everything was money.

You couldn’t do anything without money, although money alone wasn’t enough.

People might claim that money wasn’t everything, but it was just a way to hide their hypocrisy, to convince themselves that they weren’t slaves to money.

I was just being honest.

“What are you muttering about?” Maru asked.

I smiled. “Nothing. I’m just happy about making a fortune thanks to Daehoo.”

While I was quietly acquiring their assets, the Kim family was arrested for embezzlement and accounting fraud. And with the Kim family gone, Daehoo, already teetering on the brink, finally collapsed.

And once again, I became a national hero.

“Did you suspect Daehoo’s corruption from the beginning?” a reporter asked, one of many lining up for an interview.

“No, I just thought they were unethical for trying to steal our technology, so I joined the consortium.”

“You left the consortium and sold your Daehoo shares, claiming they were unethical. Why?”

I smiled sadly at the question about selling my 2% stake. “I knew from the beginning that replacing Daehoo’s management would be impossible. I just wanted to show them that not everyone would tolerate their unethical behavior just because they’re Daehoo. I thought I had inflicted enough damage and that Chairman Kim had learned his lesson, so I withdrew my investment. But…”

I shook my head with a regretful expression. “I knew he was a bad person, but I never imagined it would be this bad. 10 trillion won in accounting fraud…”

“What do you think about the experts’ speculation that your actions exposed Daehoo’s corruption?”

Many experts believed that the consortium’s attack had revealed the cracks in Daehoo’s carefully constructed facade.

Technically, it was the consortium that had caused the problems in the first place, but it was easy to reinterpret the events based on the outcome.

I looked at the cameras unflinchingly.

“If that’s true, I’m happy. I’m glad my small action had such a significant impact. This incident has taught me that you can’t hide from the truth forever. Money is important, but if the process of acquiring it is corrupt, it’s all meaningless.”

Just then, a reporter raised his hand. “Chairman Kim and his family were wrong, yes, but what about the employees? Tens of thousands of people will lose their jobs if Daehoo collapses. As the one who triggered this, how do you feel?”

The other reporters looked at him disapprovingly, as he was subtly blaming me for Daehoo’s collapse. But he seemed unfazed.

I looked at him and said, “I feel sorry for Daehoo’s employees. But it’s better that the corruption was exposed now than later. The consequences would have been far worse if it had been discovered later, when the corruption was even more widespread.”

“But isn’t it possible that they could have resolved the issue internally, without anyone getting hurt?”

There were always reporters like him, looking for a way to twist my words and create a sensational story.

He was trying to connect me to Daehoo’s downfall, but it wasn’t going to work.

“That’s a result-oriented, elitist mindset. As long as the outcome is good, the process doesn’t matter. That’s what created Daehoo in the first place. Daehoo deserves to collapse. But I do feel sorry for the employees. They’re innocent. That’s why I’m considering acquiring some of Daehoo’s subsidiaries.”

The reporters, including the one who had tried to trap me, were shocked.

Even the government, which had been considering bailing out Daehoo, was now leaning towards dismantling the group, as the scale of the Kim family’s corruption and Daehoo’s financial problems was far greater than they had initially imagined.

The entire group was riddled with debt, and there were practically no viable subsidiaries worth acquiring.

My offer to acquire some of their subsidiaries was a surprise.

“I know that a wrong acquisition could backfire. Daehoo’s situation is that dire.”

I said with a determined expression, “But I do feel responsible for Daehoo’s collapse, as you said. That’s why I want to help. I want to offer some support to the employees who are struggling. Cheer up, everyone. I’m on your side. I’ll save Daehoo!”

The reporters applauded, praising my generosity and calling me a hero.

It looked like I was volunteering to be a white knight, but it was all part of my plan.

“The supply of Daehoo’s inventory stopped as soon as the news broke,” Maru reported.

I smiled. “I expected as much.”

They were no longer desperate and uncertain about their future. A savior had appeared, so they wanted to show their loyalty and keep their jobs.

But I had already taken almost everything of value in the past few weeks.

I had acquired about 500 billion won worth of inventory, mostly marketable goods like electronics, at bargain prices.

“They had so much inventory. They’re so generous.”

The chairman’s motto of “produce first, sell later” had resulted in a massive stockpile of unsold goods, and I had acquired most of it.

All that was left was the dregs.

“How much profit do you think we’ll make?”

Maru tapped on his calculator. “We bought 500 billion won worth of inventory at bargain prices, so… we can sell it to Chinese wholesalers for at least 1.5 trillion won. If we sell it gradually, we could make up to 3 trillion won.”

3 trillion won was a conservative estimate, considering the amount of inventory we had acquired from a conglomerate with 90 trillion won in annual sales.

We had acquired 1.5 million mobile phones alone.

“Kikikiki.”

I had stockpiled old models in anticipation of this and swapped them with Daehoo’s new inventory. Their warehouses were now filled with outdated products.

“We’ll acquire Daehoo Electronics and then pressure the creditors, claiming the actual inventory is different from what’s listed in the documents. We’ll get a lower price.”

It didn’t matter if the creditors knew that we had acquired the inventory Daehoo had been hiding.

We hadn’t stolen it. We had bought it from junkyards without knowing its origins.

And if they complained, we could just tell them to find another buyer.

“And once we acquire the company, we can fire the employees who embezzled the inventory and call it restructuring.”

It would be difficult to find an employee at Daehoo who hadn’t stolen company property or inventory, and since we were the final buyer, it would be easy for us to identify them.

It would be a justifiable dismissal, so no one could object.

We would use the missing inventory to lower the acquisition price and then “save” the company with a justifiable restructuring.

Killing two birds with one stone. We were devouring Daehoo, from head to toe.

I said excitedly, “Electronics is a done deal. What else should we buy?”

I started going through the list of Daehoo subsidiaries, like shopping at a department store.

“Automobiles… pass.”

It was one of Daehoo’s core businesses, along with electronics, but I wasn’t interested.

It was too risky, and it wasn’t my area of expertise.

“Let’s stick to what we’re good at.”

“Then we don’t have anything else to buy,” Maru said.

I wagged my finger. “What about this?”

I pointed at Daehoo Securities.

“Securities?”

“Yes.”

“Is that our area of expertise?”

“Not ours, but Joongang Investment Corporation’s. There would be synergy if they acquired it.”

Joongang Investment already owned a bank. Acquiring a securities company would create a financial conglomerate.

Maru’s eyes widened. “That makes sense!”

“With Daehoo Securities and Hanho Savings Bank, we’ll look like a powerful financial group, won’t we?”

Park Jong-bum nodded. “It’s not a bad idea, but are you sure? We’re good at electronics, but finance is a different beast. And Joongang Investment Corporation lost money on the Daehoo operation.”

Joongang Investment hadn’t profited much from this scheme.

They had sold 1% to Kim Sun-woong and dumped the rest on the market, making about 4 trillion won, but their losses were close to 1 trillion won.

Of course, we would be making a lot more, but from Joongang Investment’s perspective, it was a loss.

“We still have to do it. Securities and savings bank. It’s a good combination. And it doesn’t mean we have to acquire them. We’ll decide based on the conditions.”

It was a tempting target, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

My intuition wasn’t negative, so it was worth exploring.

“Anyway, let’s keep securities on the back burner.”

As I was going through the list, Park Jong-bum said cautiously,

“Sir, about CEO Kim Min-sik…”

“Yes?”

“Shouldn’t we offer him some consolation?”

I said, puzzled, “Consolation? For what?”

“We’re profiting from this, looking at the big picture, but from his perspective, he lost money.”

“Ah, that’s right!”

“He lost 1 trillion won on the Daehoo operation, even though he was just following your orders. He might not show it, but he must be feeling down. Shouldn’t we explain the situation and offer some consolation?”

We were looking at the big picture, but Kim Min-sik only knew about Joongang Investment Corporation.

I agreed with Park Jong-bum. “1 trillion won is a big loss.”

And he deserved a reward for his excellent work.

“He needs some encouragement. What should we do?”