Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 136 The Gang Behind the Scenes
Huahai Police Station, Fangdong City, Interrogation Room
Chen Shu looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and knew that the man had already confessed. Because earlier in the security room of Dongming Company, from the moment his hands were handcuffed, Zhang Heng stopped resisting and just went with the flow.

"Tell me, how did you get into this?" Chen Shu asked, a cigarette dangling from his lips, leaving the other party free to elaborate.

"I... I owe a lot of money, I have no choice but to resort to money laundering."

When Zhang Heng uttered the term "money laundering," Chen Shu was basically certain of his criminal activities and the criminal gang behind him.

Whether it constitutes the crime of aiding and abetting cybercrime or the crime of concealing or disguising the proceeds of crime depends on Zhang Heng's specific actions.

"This is a crime, do you know that?"

".Know."

He is an honest man.

All the prepared tactics were useless.

Chen Shu was more polite to the honest man, stepped down from the interrogation table, and stuffed a Liqun cigarette into his mouth.

Earlier, during an inspection of the security room drawer, they found a half-open pack of cigarettes, indicating that Zhang Heng smokes.

Zhang Heng carefully finished his cigarette and confessed everything.

Security guard Zhang Heng originally had a happy family. His wife also worked at Dongming Company as an accountant. They also had a son who was doing well in junior high school.

Although the couple's salaries are not high, with only six or seven thousand yuan a month after deducting social security contributions, they have a house without a mortgage, so overall they are considered a well-off family.

But everything changed after Zhang Heng became addicted to online gambling. In the beginning, he used his savings from over a decade of work, but once that money was gone, he decided to gamble it all away on his only house.

He borrowed money from small financial companies for a mortgage loan, and lost it all; he made up stories to borrow money from relatives and friends, and lost again; he tried online loans and microloans, and continued to lose.

He lost so much that his wife and children were torn apart, and his family was destroyed.

Finally, through the introduction of debt collectors, he reluctantly accepted the job of running money for money. Ever since he accepted the "service fee," he knew that getting caught by the police was only a matter of time. However, he didn't care about the consequences; he was just going to give up.

Chen Shu pulled a document from the case file and waved it in front of Zhang Heng: "XX bank card, transaction history of over 800,000, involved in the case of 30,000. Tell me, how much of your 'hardship fee' did you take?"

Zhang Heng's lips trembled as he said, "Three thousand."

“For just three thousand, you’d spend a few years in jail. That’s a really bad deal.” Chen Shu chuckled, patted Zhang Heng on the shoulder, and returned to his seat at the interrogation table.

For the crime of aiding and abetting money laundering, a profit of over 10,000 or a transaction volume of 200,000 already constitutes a criminal offense. Zhang Heng's profit accounted for 0.3% of the transaction volume, and this rate essentially determined his position in the entire money laundering process.

Zhang Heng shuddered upon hearing this, looked up at the police officer with fear in his eyes: "Officer, I only took four thousand yuan, how many years will I have to go to jail for this? This long!"

Chen Shu nodded, his expression serious: "I won't lie to you."

Zhang Heng suddenly fell silent, his face turning deathly pale.

Li Chaoyang leaned over and asked, "Senior brother, should we ask his superior?"

Zhang Heng's superior, that is, the waterworks staff behind him, or the person who introduced him. Chen Shu nodded and began a new round of questioning.

Knowing he was about to face several years in prison, Zhang Heng was terrified; his body was practically trembling uncontrollably. When the policeman in front of him said that if the clues he provided could lead to the dismantling of his superiors or the criminal chain behind him, it would be considered a meritorious service, and he could be given a lighter sentence, he was deeply moved.

Zhang Heng, as if grasping at a lifeline, blurted out the entire story of the money laundering scheme. The criminal gang suspected of money laundering behind this fraudulent activity began to surface.

The gang was well-organized with a clear division of labor. They had drivers specifically for transporting cardholders, intermediaries for buying and selling bank cards, clerks for actually transferring the money, and bosses who contacted upstream fraud organizations.

After receiving the stolen money from the fraudsters, they immediately diverted it to multiple secondary bank cards through online shopping, bank transfers, and other means, and then further diverted it to multiple tertiary bank cards.

Just as Chen Shu was listening with great interest, the door opened, and the young police officer who had been in the duty hall walked into the interrogation room and gestured for him to come out for a moment.

Chen Shu followed the policeman to the next room, where he saw a policeman with a two-bar-one uniform sitting inside, who looked like a leader of the station.

When Chen Shu entered, the other person stood up, smiled, and extended his right hand: "Hello! My name is Wang Gang, and I am the deputy director here. Please have a seat."

After shaking hands with the other party, Chen Shu sat down and waited quietly for the other party to make a statement. As expected, the other party should request to jointly investigate the money laundering case behind Zhang Heng.

Wang Gang: "Officer Chen, what are you going to do with that guy next door?"

Chen Shu hesitated for a moment, then, remembering Zhang Heng's frank attitude, decided to tell the truth: "Although we found several bank cards under his pillow, I don't plan to investigate further. I'll just have him return the 30,000 yuan involved in this case, and then I'll grant him bail pending trial."

If a suspect in a crime of aiding and abetting fraud has illicit funds in the bank statements he handled, and he actively cooperates with the public security authorities to return the illicit funds, it is considered meritorious service in atoning for his crime. He may be granted bail pending trial and may not be prosecuted.

Zhang Heng's bank card contained 30,000 yuan of embezzled funds, including the 3,000 yuan from Feng Yong mentioned above. If Zhang Heng actively returns the embezzled funds, the court will return the 3,000 yuan to Feng Yong after the case is tried according to law, and the remaining 27,000 yuan will also be returned to the person who reported the case.

Therefore, ordinary people should still report fraud to the police. While fraudsters are difficult to apprehend overseas, there is still a possibility of recovering stolen funds if these money launderers in China are caught by the police.

Wang Gang nodded. This was Chen Shu's case, which he had no authority to handle. However, the money laundering case behind Zhang Heng was indeed under the jurisdiction of his Huahai Police Station.

"Then we'll take care of the rest of this case, is that alright with you?" Wang Gang asked politely.

Chen Shu knew that according to regulations, this case should have been under their jurisdiction, and Wang Gang's statement was extremely polite.

"You're too kind, Director Wang. This is under your jurisdiction. I'll hand Zhang Heng over to you once I've completed the formalities."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Wang Gang stood up again to shake hands and express his gratitude!

When Chen Shu returned to the interrogation room, he first affirmed Zhang Heng's confession, and then suggested that if Zhang Heng could actively return the 30,000 yuan of embezzled funds in his bank card, he could be granted bail pending trial.

Thirty thousand yuan!
If he had 30,000 yuan, why would he bother selling his bank card for a mere 3,000 yuan?

Zhang Heng felt as if his heart had been gripped tightly; he lowered his head and fell completely silent.

(End of this chapter)