The Mad Prosecutor Picked Up AI - Chapter 69
Only Noblemtl
Episode 69: The Vice President’s phone call is like that
As detective So Hae-jin handcuffed Kwon Jin-goo, I pointed to Jeong Bae-hyeok, who was standing next to him.
“Please take your secretary with you. There is a lot to investigate.”
“What kind of investigation?”
“wait a minute.”
I quickly found a blank piece of paper and wrote down the overseas bank account that Aliotta had hacked earlier.
“A significant amount of the money that Kwon Jin-goo embezzled is probably here.”
Jung Bae-hyeok’s eyes widened as he watched me write on the paper. He even stammered as he pointed alternately at the paper and me.
“Huh? Huh, how did that… …? No, that can’t be happening?”
“Maybe there is money that my wife embezzled or money that my father, CEO Kwon Dong-seon, evaded in taxes.”
Detective Im Ji-yeon’s face clearly showed admiration, but she didn’t show it on the outside and just accepted the paper I handed her. As expected, the admiration came out of Detective So Hae-jin’s mouth.
“You found the secret account? Oh my god. How did you do that? No matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find it, and that bastard Kwon Jin-gu couldn’t even collect the additional fine.”
“Well, now I can pay all those fines. Right?”
Jin-gu Kwon, who was listening to me, started foaming at the mouth.
“Who the hell is paying the fines? It’s all my money, you little shits!”
I kindly explained to Kwon Jin-gu, who was freaking out and rolling his eyes.
“Yeah. Since it’s your money, you’re going to deduct the additional tax from there. So, are you really going to pay the additional tax with someone else’s money?”
“No! What kind of money is that?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll scrape together every penny of money in there and pay all the fines and penalties. You don’t have to pay late fees, right? Our prosecutors are so kind. They even handle banking for you. Isn’t that right?”
“Hey, you little punk! What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m a newbie who’s doing the testing.”
Kwon Jin-goo shouted, foaming at the mouth.
“Hey, don’t act all cocky just because you’re a prosecutor. Do you think you’ll be okay? If I open my mouth, you’ll all be in jail. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes. I guess we can get along well. Let’s see. Mr. Kwon Jin-gu is currently serving a 12-year sentence, and if you add the bribery and obstruction of official duties by hierarchy, he will be sentenced to an additional 5 years or less. Since he is in good health, I hope he is released before his term ends.”
I folded my hands together and bowed my head devoutly, praying to a god I did not even believe in for my release.
“Ah… … . No! No! That can’t be! Let go of it! Let go of it!”
“Okay, let’s take these guys to the police station right now. I’m going crazy.”
The hospital room became quiet as the police officers standing in the hallway came in and took away Kwon Jin-goo and Jung Bae-hyeok, who were shouting loudly. I looked at Inspector Im Yeon and said.
“This is quite a big thing. Can you investigate it well?”
“Is that sarcasm?”
“No. It’s just a rumor. We should also investigate the guards at the prison where Kwon Jin-gu was incarcerated. If someone who isn’t even sick is out like this, there must be some corruption.”
“You don’t have to tell me about that. I know they’ll figure it out. Do you think detectives can investigate worse than prosecutors?”
Lieutenant Lee Mi-yeon said with a stern face.
“No. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“The hospital doctor will also be investigated. Please don’t show leniency when you send him to the prosecution.”
“I’ll get that from the criminal department, so I’ll tell them that. I’m in the trial department.”
Inspector Im Ji-yeon snorted.
“Yes, yes. Please do. Detective So, go.”
“Yes, Manager. Let’s work out together sometime.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Detective So Hae-jin bowed to us and followed Lieutenant Im Yeon out. I clicked my tongue as I watched his back.
“That person is really sharp.”
“Detective Lee Mi-yeon? I guess you have some bad memories of being a prosecutor.”
Well, it’s not like I don’t understand if the prosecutor I worked with all this time is Kim Kyung-soo.
“Oh, that’s right, inspector.”
Wi Jun-woo, who had been nodding, suddenly asked me with his eyes shining.
“How did you find out about the secret account that Kwon Jin-gu had hidden? Even though you had a suspicion that there was a secret account, you didn’t have time to investigate it.”
“Yes.”
“Before coming here, of course I didn’t investigate anything. After coming here, all I did was exchange a few words and catch Kwon Jin-gu. When on earth did you investigate that?”
Huh. What do you mean by this?
I quickly rolled my head.
“Oh, that? Actually, that’s why I pretended to take a bribe.”
“Is it true?”
“Then do you think I really intended to take a bribe?”
“No. Of course not. I trusted you, sir.”
‘Look at me, me. Look at me lying without even wiping my mouth.’
[Your face is getting more and more shameless day by day. Like someone.]
‘Who? Hey, who? Who are you talking about?’
[Please give Wi Jun-woo an answer quickly. I’m waiting.]
After a brief cough, I spoke to Wi Jun-woo.
“When Jung Bae-hyeok was trying to send money earlier, I secretly looked at his phone screen. There was information about a secret overseas account on the screen.”
Wi Jun-woo tilted his head.
“Weren’t you standing over there earlier, inspector? Jung Bae-hyeok was in front of the wall here. You wouldn’t have been able to see the phone screen from there. You were standing almost face to face with Jung Bae-hyeok.”
Oh, right. Sometimes I see you being really meticulous for no reason.
In order to fool the unnecessarily meticulous Wi Jun-woo, I quickly thought about it and kept talking.
“Right. You can’t see the phone screen from here. You can’t see it… … , so. Oh, here! Do you see this picture?”
I pointed to a picture frame hanging on the wall behind Jeong Bae-hyeok. The painting was a simple landscape, and it was housed in a plain, shiny gold frame.
“The screen was projected here.”
“Your phone screen is reflected in this glass?”
“No, it’s not a reflection in the glass.”
I pointed to a metal frame. The frame was made of gold and looked to be about 5cm thick.
“This part of the frame is shiny. When I look closely, I see that Jeong Bae-hyeok’s phone screen is reflected here!”
[Oh my. Even if you’re joking, do it properly. You knew it when you saw the reflection in that narrow space? And you saw the screen that was reflected in the opposite direction like a mirror? Aren’t you underestimating Wi Jun-woo too much?]
“Hey. You figured it out from what you saw here?”
Just as Aliota was causing a fuss, Wei Junwu also had a suspicious expression.
Wi Jun-woo approached the picture frame hanging on the wall and began to examine it intently. He even took out his cell phone and turned around to check if it was reflected in the picture frame.
‘A needlessly thorough guy.’
[Please think of another excuse.]
‘Then what should I say? Should I say that I saw it reflected in Jeong Bae-hyeok’s eyes?’
[That’s even crazier.]
‘Anyway, I can’t help you.’
While Aliotta and I were bickering, Wi Jun-woo, who had been looking at his phone reflected in the frame, suddenly raised his head.
“Inspector!”
“yes?”
“wow.”
“… … ?”
Wi Jun-woo opened his eyes wide and then narrowed them as he looked at the picture frame.
“Can you really see it? Sometimes the letters look stretched because of the screen curvature. Even if it’s upside down, the letters are still readable. Wow, my goodness. You saw this right there? Your eyesight is amazing, inspector. Is it because of your glasses? Should I wear glasses too?”
Aliotta and I sighed with complicated expressions. What on earth is this feeling that doesn’t feel good even though I lied?
‘Are you kidding me?’
[It’s water. It’s totally water.]
I clapped my hands to change the mood.
“Okay, then let’s get started.”
“Huh? What?”
Wi Jun-woo, who was looking at the screen of his cell phone reflected in the frame as if it was new, asked.
“This incident isn’t just about prison guards and doctors.”
“yes?”
“It seems like he has connections with the prosecution as well.”
“ah.”
Wi Jun-woo’s face darkened as he noticed what I was about to say. Earlier, Jung Bae-hyeok and Kwon Jin-goo had already known that Kang Jin-gyu would appear in the inspection.
That means someone passed on the information. Judging from their reaction, it seems like they asked Kang Jin-gyu to look upon it favorably.
“The prosecutor is also involved here. At least, I heard somewhere that Senior Kang Jin-gyu would be coming for the inspection.”
“But I don’t think Prosecutor Kang is the type to reveal money.”
“Is there a type that is obsessed with money? When the desperation and greed for money overshadows one’s conscience and work ethics, everything falls into place.”
“Well, still.”
“They may not have received any money. But they definitely expected that Senior Kang would testify on Kwon Jin-gu’s behalf.”
At least there is someone who asked Kang Jin-gyu to take good care of Kwon Jin-goo. Kang Jin-gyu is so indecisive that if he had pushed a little harder, he would have been completely fooled. That means there is a backer who took money and made all this happen.
‘Maybe that’s Kim Kyung-soo?’
[Yes. Jeong Bae-hyeok mentioned Kim Gyeong-su.]
‘Do you know who was in charge of the Kwon Jin-gu embezzlement case?’
[This is Prosecutor Kim Kyung-soo of Criminal Division 3.]
I already knew that Kim Kyung-soo was behind it because I had heard what Jeong Bae-hyeok had to say, but I kindly explained it to Wi Jun-woo, who didn’t know anything.
“The Samgu Construction embezzlement case was handled by Criminal Division 3’s Kim Kyung-soo. His wife is also suspected of embezzlement, right? Do you know who did it?”
“I’m not sure about that.”
[Kim Kyung-soo was also in charge of that.]
“Kim Kyung-soo was in charge of that too.”
“Oh, really?”
“In addition, the tax evasion charges against my father, Kwon Dong-seon, the president of Samgu Construction… … .”
[That was handled by Prosecutor Jeong Min-gu, who is in the same 3rd criminal division.]
“Prosecutor Jeong Min-gu, who is in the same 3rd criminal division, did it. This is just like the picture. All the prosecutors in the 3rd criminal division are connected.”
“Then, by no means. Are you suspecting Prosecutor Kim Kyung-soo?”
“It’s suspicious. Maybe Jeong Min-gu is involved too.”
The youngest prosecutor in the 3rd criminal division wouldn’t have been in charge of everything alone. There must be someone higher up. Maybe even higher up than Jeong Min-gu. At least Chief Kim Jong-hyeok is probably involved. There is circumstantial evidence, but no evidence.
I sat there thinking. I can’t just let this go. I’m not the prosecutor, so I can’t dig into it.
If we just investigate this properly, it will be resolved, but will other prosecutors really investigate this properly?
“Then what are you going to do?”
“If I report this to the Inspector General, will the investigation be conducted properly?”
“Well, the arms tend to bend inward.”
Right. Don’t bend your arms inward. Even if you file a complaint, they’ll just come and go with a box, pretending to investigate. There’s a high chance that it’ll just be swept under the rug.
Moreover, Kim Kyung-soo graduated from Seoul National University Business School and Seoul National University Law School. How many connections does he have? Plus, his father is a former public defender.
It’s been several months since they took over the case. Normally, if you take a bribe, you wouldn’t leave any evidence behind, but with so much time having passed, it’s highly likely that they’ve deleted any evidence that exists.
Moreover, if it is not just Kim Kyung-soo who is involved, but also Jung Min-goo and Kim Jong-hyeok, it will be difficult to investigate everything with the power of the Inspection Department alone. Vice Minister Nam Woo-joong will not sit by and watch the Inspection Department touch his right arm.
There’s no chance of success if we just hand it over to the Inspector General. We need to let them know that there’s another guy watching with both eyes wide open.
This won’t punish all the inspectors involved, but shouldn’t I at least make my presence known?
After making up my mind, I took out my cell phone.
“I don’t think just stabbing the Inspector General will work. I’ll have to deal with it myself.”
“Should I contact Prosecutor Kim Kyung-soo?”
“No. The person above.”
“Your superior? Criminal Division 3, Chief Kim Jong-hyuk?”
I shook my head.
“More up.”
“?”
“Vice President Nam Woo-joong.”
“omg.”
I pressed the phone button without hesitation.
“Vice President Nam Woo-joong?”
– Who is it?
“Oh, look at this guy. Who are you? Didn’t you save my number?”
– … … .
“I’m Do Hyeon-gwang. Please make sure to save the number. Last time I saw you, you didn’t seem smart enough to memorize all the numbers.”
– Hey, you punk!
“Don’t yell. You should watch your blood pressure. The fatter you are, the more you should watch out for high blood pressure.”
– This guy? Hey!
“Oh, my eardrums are deafening. The sound is so loud that it’s, oh, the sound. You’ll hear it very well.”
The voice on the other end of the phone was Nam Woo-joong, the deputy chief, but right in front of me, Wi Jun-woo was lost in thought and on the verge of fainting.
“Huh! Hey, inspector! You’re calling the deputy director like that… … .”