Tokyo Barrister: Start the law firm bankruptcy

Chapter 952 Another Offensive Route

The court hearing resumed in the afternoon.

The prosecutor's office is gearing up for the job.

During the two-hour lunch break, Akihime and the other prosecutor's assistants focused on studying Kitahara's defense arguments. After analysis, they concluded that Kitahara's argument essentially revolved around the nature of the funds. He argued that the funds should be considered an investment, citing the wording of the contract and the commercial arrangements.

In response, Qiu Hui and others believe that to refute Kitahara's fallacies, it is necessary to grasp the flow path of funds.

From the perspective of cash inflows and outflows, we can refute Kitahara's viewpoint.

Following further instructions from the mountain judge, the prosecutor continued to present evidence—

Qiu Hui stood up and said:
"Your Honor. During the morning's hearing, the defendant's lawyer argued that the funds in question were not investment funds. However, whether or not they are investment funds requires us to determine based on the flow of funds, the method of return, and so on."

Several prosecutors’ assistants stepped out of their seats and carried a huge chart, which they displayed in the courtroom.

Qiu Hui pointed to the chart above and continued:

"No matter how the defendant's lawyer argues, we can see that the amount paid by Shanhu Capital to investors has always remained between 25% and 50% of the deposit. The entire promotion and signing of the contract was conducted by returning the deposit plus paying a premium return."

"The determination of illegal fundraising should start with the actual flow of funds, rather than getting bogged down in the specific wording of the contract!"

"In fact, the defendant's Shanhu Capital used the pretext of 'Ant Reproduction's margin deposit to collect funds. It then paid out returns at a premium of 25-50%. By returning the margin deposit, it effectively guaranteed the principal. From any perspective, this is a disguised promise of guaranteed returns!"

"Therefore, no matter what wording the contract is used to argue, it cannot change the substance of the defendant's actions!"

Qiu Hui once again led the prosecutor's office in an attack.

This time, the counterattack was more precise than the one in the morning.

Upon seeing the prosecutor's office's counterattack, Nishio shook his head and sighed.

That young man named Kitahara can only hope for the best.

Provoking the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office will definitely not end well.

All eyes of the audience were drawn to Kitahara.

Many people are wondering if the lawyer can fight back as he did this morning.

Qiu Hui and her colleagues were confident. Although the lunch break was short, the prosecutor's office had quickly made thorough preparations, and they were certain they could completely crush the lawyer in the afternoon's court hearing!

Kitahara rose from the defense attorney's seat and addressed the prosecutor's charges, stating, "Regarding the nature of the funds involved and the method of calculating returns, the defense has already addressed these questions in the morning's hearing. The method of calculating returns is based on the market price of ants and the number of ants they reproduce. As for the nature of the margin deposit, given that Shanhu Capital did indeed forfeit margin deposits based on the death of ants, it can be inferred that the funds were not investment funds."

"The above response has already been discussed in previous court hearings and will not be repeated here."

The young male lawyer said this.

Upon hearing that the words "no more repeating" were heard, Qiu Hui and the group of prosecutor's assistants all smiled.

Sure enough, the lawyer in front of me had run out of words.

He could only repeat what he had said that morning.

Things seemed to be going according to Qiu Hui's plan.

Akie believed that Kitahara's repertoire of moves was limited to this.

During the morning court hearing, Kitahara's defense was all he had to offer!

The audience members present, upon seeing Kitahara's response, naturally sided with the prosecutor's office.

This lawyer is just bluffing.

It should be a surprise attack taken by the prosecutor's office when they are not paying attention.

There are no more tricks up our sleeve.

A weak and ineffective defense. Aso is still guilty!
however--

Just then, Kitahara spoke again:

"Besides whether the funds involved in the case constitute investment funds, an even more important question is whether my defendant, Aso, engaged in the act of raising funds."

It's like throwing a huge rock into a calm lake.

It instantly created huge ripples.

The defense lawyer once again threw out a shocking argument.

The defendant did not engage in any fundraising activities?!
Everyone present doubted their ears.

Even the prosecutors were stunned.

Upon hearing Kitahara's words, Akihime's anger flared up even more.

"Defense lawyer! Courtroom defense is not about making up lies!!" Qiu Hui shouted angrily. "Shanhu Capital's use of margin deposits to raise funds is an undeniable fact! The evidence is irrefutable and conclusive! What makes you think you can deny it!"

Kitahara smiled, then took out the ant farming contract and pointed to the signatories on the contract:
"Prosecutor, please take a good look at the contract in question."

"In fact, Shanhu Capital is an intermediary. Shanhu Capital plays an intermediary and platform role in the entire ant farming activity. It is not Shanhu Capital that provides ants to farmers, but the ant breeding company. Similarly, it is the ant breeding company, not Shanhu Capital, that pays the financial returns."

"Mountain Lake Capital is a platform."

"It acts as a matchmaker between farmers and ant breeding companies."

"Then, the following contracts were signed. Mountain Lake Capital, as an intermediary, merely served as a conduit for funds and acted as a supervisor overseeing the performance of both parties."

"In short, there is actually no ant breeding relationship between the farmers and Shanhu Capital. The one that actually signs the contract with the farmers is the ant breeding company."

"Shanhu Capital is a platform that brings together hundreds of ant breeding companies and tens of thousands of ant caretakers to sign ant breeding contracts."

"It is the intermediary."

"It is the mediator."

"It's the platform provider."

"From the perspective of the business model structure involved in the case, Shanhu Capital did not engage in any fundraising activities. The fundraising was carried out by Ant Breeding Company. The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office ignored this fact and instead characterized Shanhu Capital, as the platform intermediary, as the perpetrator of illegal fundraising, which seriously contradicts the evidence on file! It is inconsistent with the facts! Shanhu Capital did not engage in illegal fundraising!!"

An unprecedented and weighty viewpoint was thrown into the courtroom.

The defense lawyer claimed that Mountain Lake Capital did not engage in illegal fundraising.

It is merely an intermediary.

The actual fundraising was carried out by Ant Breeding Company.

The contract presented by Kitahara clearly shows that there are three parties involved.

One is Mountain Lake Capital.

One side consists of farmers.

The other party is an ant breeding company.

From the perspective of contract structure—

Mountain Lake Capital is indeed an intermediary.

The text of the contract was displayed in court.

The lines of text on it silently tell a crucial fact that has not been recognized by the prosecutor's office: Shanhu Capital was merely a conduit platform for the funds involved in the case...

(End of this chapter)