What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 662 Here Comes the Work (5k)

In April, Li Song, who had traveled to and from Hong Kong multiple times in the past two weeks, returned to Shanghai once again.

He took two days off this time, and took the opportunity to completely hand over the position of president of Zhenai.com to the vice president, retaining only the position of chairman, before arriving in Lingang.

Xu Xin knew that her husband had been hiding his involvement in the mountain's affairs from her, but she was still shocked to see him actually give up the company he had worked so hard to build.

"Haven't you seen the trouble Shanfeng is in now? You'd be better off selling cars with him in Lingang; selling cars might be a more promising career path."

Just at the end of March, Tesla released its new Model 3, and within just one week it received 3.25 orders, generating $32.5 million in deposits, setting a new industry record.

Xu Xin has been paying close attention to the development of the new energy industry, but still finds it difficult to understand the reason for such a large number of orders.

Not only her, but the order volume also far exceeded analysts' estimates. It was generally believed that a weekly pre-sale volume of 7 vehicles would be considered good, but the current performance has far exceeded expectations.

Supported by such positive news, Tesla's stock price surged from $200 to a high of $247.9 in the past week, a new high since October 2015, with its market value increasing by nearly $10 billion. Tesla-related stocks also rose collectively, with sectors such as lithium batteries and charging piles all benefiting.

Even though some institutions remain concerned about Tesla's production capacity and profit margins, the short-selling sentiment surrounding Tesla has largely subsided.

As a new energy vehicle company, Silicon Carbon Group, which has only recently been listed in Hong Kong, has hardly benefited from this. On the one hand, the performance of pure electric vehicle orders seems to further prove the transitional nature of range extenders. On the other hand, the litigation troubles surrounding its founder Yu Xing are being frequently brought up, and there have been substantial actions taken in Europe.

“I don’t know anything about selling cars.” Li Song said dismissively. “As for President Yu’s lawsuit… well, he’s not going to Europe anyway, and the EU’s jurisdiction doesn’t extend to us. Regardless of whether silicon carbide will be delisted in the future, the money raised has already been enough to drive development.”

The money raised will be used for development. As long as car sales increase, even if the company is delisted, there will be no shortage of funds for privatization.

The EU has a Regulation (MAR) that clearly stipulates its extraterritorial effect. Regardless of whether the actor is within the EU or is an EU citizen, as long as the act affects financial instruments in EU regulated markets, it is subject to restrictions.

However, there is no effective extradition treaty or bilateral criminal judicial assistance treaty between China and Germany. All cross-border evidence collection and extradition requests can only be negotiated through diplomatic channels and have no legal force. Chinese judicial authorities have no obligation to cooperate.

Furthermore, even if there is a treaty, according to Article 8 of China's Extradition Law, which clearly stipulates the principle of not extraditing one's own citizens, China will not extradite Chinese citizens to Germany. The judgments and administrative penalty decisions of the European Court of Justice have no direct legal effect here and will not be recognized or enforced domestically.

Simply put, as long as Yu Xing does not set foot in the EU, the Schengen Area, Singapore, or any other region with a judicial assistance agreement with the EU, he can circumvent EU territorial enforcement authority. This is the bottom line for physical security.

Of course, if it really comes to this, the impact on one's career will be significant, and the expansion of the business empire and the development of cross-border business may be severely restricted.

Li Song has been busy communicating with his investment banking contacts lately, as these are crucial bargaining chips in the game of life, a matter of careful consideration.

He almost always gets the opinions of the European legal team right away. Currently, the EU's actions are mainly based on Germany's BaFin, but German criminal procedure law prohibits trials in absentia for serious criminal suspects. There is currently no extradition channel, so the prosecution may have to eventually abandon criminal proceedings and only retain the right to prosecute. The core demand will shift to the maximum administrative penalty.

Li Song hadn't seen much media discussion about these games, and he didn't know what the final outcome would be. He only knew that his part was basically able to confirm the authenticity of investment banks manipulating the silver market.

He briefly mentioned the various factors to his wife, maintaining a cautiously optimistic attitude towards the current troubles facing Guoshanfeng.

If all else fails, just as he has always thought, and as Guo Shanfeng has always mentioned, deception will endure forever, so organizations that search for traces of deception can also endure forever, only under different names.

On the morning of April 7, Li Song arrived in Lingang and was surprised to find that the original Guoshanfeng office had been moved to the seventh floor and occupied half of the workspace, and there seemed to be more staff.

He went to the president's office but couldn't find President Yu. Instead, he ran into Secretary Zhang Yangxu and was stopped by him.

"Mr. Li, get to the seventh floor, we have a job coming in."

Hearing the whisper, Li Song hesitated and asked, "Is there work coming?"

Zhang Yangxu nodded solemnly.

Li Song was a beat slow to react before his spirits lifted. Seven layers of work? That meant crossing the mountain peak to discover new clues.

He was somewhat excited as they got on the elevator together; this seemed to be the first official and proactive action taken since the exposure of Guo Shanfeng.

When Li Song arrived at the office, he saw an unfamiliar face already flipping through documents and couldn't help but ask Zhang Yangxu, "Where's Zhao Shuo?"

Zhao Shuo was involved in both Zotye's subsidies and investment bank silver manipulation. This time when he came back, not only had the office moved, but the staff had also increased. Now there are new moves, as if he hadn't been away for a week or two, but had gone to Hong Kong for a year.

“He’s gone to work on other projects.” Zhang Yangxu handed over a document and said simply, “Guoshanfeng has received a lot of leads, but it will take a lot of effort to verify them.”

Seeing that Li Song's expression seemed a bit complicated, he added, "There are currently three groups of people on the seventh floor, corresponding to the United States, Europe, and Asia respectively. They are mainly doing research work and are still looking for suitable people. Mr. Li, you can consider the areas that interest you. In addition, the Over Peak Fund is being set up in Hong Kong and should be officially operational by the middle of the year. You can also consider whether you want to invest money in it."

Only then did Zhang Yangxu introduce, "This is Ren Ping, who is here with us to study the company information in the documents."

Li Song felt a sense of rapid change once again. He nodded slightly to the unfamiliar Ren Ping and began to look at the work on the seventh floor.

The first page of the document introduces the target company, which is none other than Wirecard, a German listed company whose main business is payment and acquiring, similar to Lakala in China. However, it holds a German banking license, which allows it to accept deposits, issue cards, and clear transactions.

Currently, the company's share price is 40 euros, and its market capitalization is 53 billion euros.

Li Song muttered a couple of times: "Wirecard, Wircard."

He then asked, "I've never heard of this company, how did I find it?"

Zhang Yangxu did not provide an answer, but the reason was soon revealed on the document.

Last month, Virkard was targeted by an anonymous short seller, Zatarra Research. According to a 60-page short report provided to the media and institutions, the report accused Virkard of engaging in fraudulent transactions and money laundering in Southeast Asia, as well as allegations of fraud by its executives and collusion with its auditors.

This anonymous short seller was clearly set up temporarily for this short-selling operation, with no prior record of short selling. This move caused Vilcabá's stock price to plummet by 25% in a single day, wiping out 15 billion euros in market value, and leading to a temporary suspension of trading.

However, as Wilcard held conference calls and press conferences to clarify and deny all allegations, CEO Marcus personally increased his holdings of company stock to convey confidence, and Ernst & Young issued an unqualified audit opinion, its stock price gradually recovered in April.

An anonymous short seller's short-selling operation was not entirely successful.

Li Song had a definition in his mind: there was still success. A 25% drop in stock price would have created profit potential, but the current recovery proved that the market still believed in Wilcard.

The next moment, he changed his definition again: a short-selling operation by an anonymous small-time seller that did not completely fail.

Although the market trusted Wilcard, its short selling attracted the attention of the king of short sellers.

"Does Mr. Yu think shorting ZR is the right thing to do? Is there something seriously wrong with this company?" Li Song asked, then chuckled, "Or does he just feel a sense of familiarity?"

ZR's short selling involves sending short-selling reports in bulk via anonymous email addresses without disclosing any information about the institutions involved, leaving only an email address whose entity cannot be traced. This tactic is very similar to that used when the mountain peaks first started their operation.

“This is a German company, and like those companies that are ultimately proven to have committed fraud, it has a history of being questioned,” Ren Ping said. “The German Shareholders Association raised questions about Vilkard in 2008, and Ernst & Young was appointed to conduct a special audit at that time, replacing Vilkard’s auditing firm the following year.” “Last year, the Financial Times published a series of special reports on Vilkard, raising questions about inconsistencies in the company’s accounts, suggesting a shortfall of about 2.5 million euros on its balance sheet, which led to a lawyer’s letter from Vilkard.”

"When this company was founded, it helped websites with credit card payments. In 2005, it acquired a call center company and then went public in Frankfurt through a reverse merger. At that time, its core business was providing payment collection services for online gambling and pornographic content."

"In 2006, it once again entered the banking industry by acquiring XCOM, obtaining the qualifications to issue cards and do clearing. In the past few years, it has launched acquisitions around the world, buying many Asian companies and setting up its regional headquarters in Singapore."

Ren Ping's tone became more serious at this point: "Behind all this development and transformation is the credit of its CEO, Marcus. Marcus joined in 2002 when Vilcard was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was previously an advisor to KPMG, one of the world's four largest accounting firms."

“Marcus has extensive experience in the German auditing circle. When Vilkade was on the verge of bankruptcy, it was able to complete compliance rectification and backdoor listing in just three years, which was inseparable from his ability and operation.”

Ren Ping took a sip of tea and said seriously, "We had someone investigate this person. He has good relationships with high-level officials in Austria and Germany. He serves as an innovation policy advisor for a think tank in Austria, has close ties with Guttenberg in the German economic department, and has regular communication with high-level officials in the German finance department. In Germany, Wilkard's role is to compete with local payment giants like PayPal and Stripe."

As Li Song listened to this information, his expression became extremely serious. When he saw the introduction of Wilcard in the document, which mentioned that the shareholders included Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and other institutions, it seemed to add a special touch to the picture.

While Vilcard is not well-known in China, it is a core component of the German TecDAX index.

Zhang Yangxu added: "What Mr. Yu thinks is interesting is that BaFin, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, which is also responsible for investigating us, reacted very quickly and directly to the short selling of Wirkard. It defined it as a malicious attack by British and American capital on a star German company, believing that the anonymous short seller was from the UK and was trying to manipulate the market. It even sent a letter to the UK Financial Conduct Authority to request assistance in investigating the identity of the short seller."

"There must be some collusion involved, which doesn't seem surprising when you think about it," Li Song pondered.

Zhang Yangxu smiled and said, "The main reason is that BaFin directly refused to launch any substantive investigation. Its reason is that Ernst & Young has already issued an unqualified audit opinion, so Wilcard is compliant and there is no need to investigate."

“According to German law, BaFin’s regulatory authority only covers the bank subsidiaries under Wilkart and it has no right to investigate the core payment business of the parent company. The responsibility for this lies with another organization, FREP,” Ren Ping pointed out. “Regarding ZR’s short selling, BaFin believes it only deals with market manipulation, not financial fraud; FREP believes it only deals with financial reporting compliance, not fraud; and the German prosecutors cannot file a case without evidence transferred from the regulatory authorities. Therefore, none of the three parties have initiated any investigation.”

Zhang Yangxu said, "But they don't treat us like that. President Yu felt that BaFin's establishment of a joint investigation team in the EU and its pursuit of Hong Kong showed a significant difference in attitude."

Li Song nodded silently. This was a short-selling attack that had just occurred, but BaFin's reaction, the CEO's background, and Wilcard's past experience all made Guoshanfeng take notice of the situation.

In addition, there is another factor that cannot be ignored: the fact that the company is a "German listed company" is undoubtedly a bargaining chip that is being considered in litigation.

Logically speaking, if this company is indeed guilty of fraud, and if the vested interests surrounding this operation are exposed, BaFin may face turmoil, as it is under the jurisdiction of the German Ministry of Finance.

After exchanging a few words, Li Song suddenly asked, "What does President Yu think of this company? What is his assessment?"

"President Yu will have to wait for our investigation results," Zhang Yangxu replied.

Li Song pressed further, "Did you have any intuitive judgment?"

Zhang Yangxu shook his head: "No, he just thought BaFin's reaction was interesting, and ZR's short-selling report mentioned the situation in Southeast Asia, which is a relatively easy region to research. In addition, he invited Song..."

The knocking on the office door interrupted the conversation.

A moment later, Song Yufeng, looking exhausted, walked into the office.

Zhang Yangxu introduced Ren Ping, and then finished saying what he had just said: "President Yu invited President Song to help."

Li Song was stunned for a moment. He knew Song Yufeng. He was a shareholder of Guiai.com and Baixiaosheng with President Yu back then. He had even served as the legal representative of the company for a time, but then he disappeared without a trace.

He vaguely remembered that when people mentioned Song Yufeng, they all envied him for following the right person, achieving financial freedom, and now he must be enjoying life.

I never expected to see him appear today, and I never expected Zhang Yangxu to mention the so-called "help".

Song Yufeng drank half a glass of water, his voice a little hoarse, and said something that surprised all three people present: "Almost everyone in Singapore's payment industry knows that Wilcard is committing fraud."

Ren Ping glanced sideways, Li Song was astonished, and Zhang Yangxu's face lit up with joy.

“I’m currently working on some payment projects overseas.” Song Yufeng didn’t mention that he was ordered by President Yu to work with Liu Jiankai on cryptocurrency. He said vaguely, “Last year I was often in Singapore. It’s not a big place, and there weren’t many payment projects. Although I don’t know how big the scale of the fraud was, that’s the general feeling when people talked about it.”

Li Song asked curiously, "Mr. Song, what payment projects are you involved in overseas?"

Song Yufeng smiled but did not answer.

Ren Ping didn't focus on that; he simply asked, "President Song, can Singapore provide any more information? Is it truly the mainstream assessment there?"

Song Yufeng nodded and pointed to the documents he had already reviewed before arriving: "Wilcard has set up its regional headquarters in Singapore; the payment circle isn't very big."

He hesitated for two seconds, not mentioning another secret concerning Wilcard. The reason he was summoned by President Yu this time was because ZR's short-selling report accused it of money laundering, and perhaps by peeling back the layers of the gradually growing "Kabbit," they could see if they could find any clues.

Ren Ping immediately said, "Then we can start a specific investigation into Vilcard now. If we can get solid evidence against him, we will have more leverage in our negotiations with BaFin and the German prosecutors. Mr. Song can go to Singapore to gather information. I have worked in Southeast Asia before and can take people to visit Vilcard's branches in Southeast Asia. Mr. Li can verify his financial information."

Li Song nodded, but then became a little annoyed. He should be the one to say these things, not the one to assign them.

He coughed and asked Zhang Yangxu, "Where is President Yu? I need to speak with him."

Zhang Yangxu replied, "President Yu will probably be back this afternoon; he went to Ningbo."

Li Song glanced at Ren Ping out of the corner of his eye and gave an intuitive judgment: "It seems that Wilcard really has a problem. The question is how big the problem is."

The four people secretly discussed the investigation into the mountain peak in the conference room. This time, it was not for short selling to make a profit, but to increase their bargaining chips. More professionally speaking, they were considering using evidence from major public interest cases in Germany to exchange for an exemption.

As noon approached, Li Song stepped out of his office and was suddenly overwhelmed with the thrill of being the one who had crossed the mountain peak.

In the evening, Yu Xing, who had returned to Lingang, saw Li Song and immediately asked, "What do you want to see me about?"

“Well, Mr. Yu, uh, Xu Xin said it’s been a long time since we played mahjong together.” Li Song said seriously, “I was thinking that Guoshanfeng has been facing a lot of lawsuits lately, so playing mahjong can help you relax and relieve some stress.”

Yu Xing glanced at the short seller, wondering what was wrong with him.

At this point, Li Song brought up the new project he had taken on that day and asked President Yu for his opinion on it.

“There’s no need to make a judgment; we’ll find out by investigating,” Yu Xing said calmly. “However, Hufeld, who is in charge of BaFin, and his deputy Legler, both of them frequently attend events organized by Vilkader. There’s reason to believe that BaFin’s failure to launch any investigation is partly due to this factor.”

"Moreover, Legler filed criminal charges against the Financial Times journalist last year, accusing him of market manipulation. This intimidation was too blatant."

Li Song had reason to believe that Yu was so sensitive about the matter because he considered the intimidation he had suffered to be equally brutal.

(End of this chapter)