Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk

Chapter 129 The Chain of Profit Transfer [Eight Chapters, 20,000 Words, Seeking Monthly Tickets]

After hanging up the phone, Kiryu Yaya sat at his workstation and went over the line in his mind again.

Eight Assets Co., Ltd. has business objectives including "debt recovery" and "disposal of collateral".

Ogaki Asset Management Co., Ltd. holds a 10% stake in Eight Assets, and the representative director of Ogaki Assets is none other than Ogaki Kiyomasa's wife, Ogaki Masami.

Kiyomasa Ogaki himself was the head of the finance department at Mitsubishi Bank's Osaka branch, responsible for daily loan approvals and determining collateral terms.

Dispose of non-performing loans.

The company under the wife's name holds shares in the company that handles non-performing loans generated after the husband approved and disbursed them.

This chain of interests is as clear as it gets.

But Kiryu Yaya knew that logic alone was not enough.

He needs evidence, evidence that can be laid bare on the table, evidence that Kiyomasa Ogaki cannot refute.

He wanted to find out exactly how many non-performing loans from Mitsubishi Bank's Osaka branch had been taken over by Yatsusabu Co., Ltd., and whether Kiyomasa Ogaki was the original approver of these loans.

If so, then the elements constituting the crime of breach of trust are confirmed.

The plan is feasible; let's get started.

Kiryu Yaya stood up, picked up his notebook and pen from the table, and walked towards Yamada Masakazu's office.

He knocked gently on the door.

"Come in."

Masakazu Yamada was sitting behind his desk flipping through a document when he saw it was Yasuya Kiryu. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Section Chief, I'd like to go to the underground storage again to retrieve some old files."

Masakazu Yamada glanced at him, didn't ask any further questions, and simply nodded: "Go ahead. If you need anything transferred, just contact Morishita and tell him I agreed."

"Thank you, Section Chief."

Kiryu Yaya turned and left.

To get from the third floor to the second basement level, you have to go up a fairly long flight of stairs.

He pushed open the iron door of the underground vault, and the familiar smell of paper and dust wafted out.

Yoshio Morishita was still the same as always, sitting behind the duty desk, his reading glasses perched on his nose, a newspaper spread out in front of him, and the tea in his thermos had long since gone cold.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw Kiryu Yaya. A smile appeared on his face: "Kiryu-kun, here to change the schedule again? This is the third time this month, isn't it?"

"Thank you for your help, Morishita-senpai."

Kiryu Yaya bowed slightly and handed over Yamada Masakazu's permission.

Morishita took it, glanced at it, nodded, slowly stood up, and took a bunch of keys from the keypad behind him.

"What do you need to adjust this time?"

"I need to review all the collateral disposal records related to Hachisuke Corporation, covering the period from 1954 to 1964. I need to see all the cases involving this company."

Morishita adjusted his reading glasses and glanced at him: "Eight assets? You're not one of our bank's clients, are you?"

"No. It's an external asset management company."

Morishita didn't press further, simply grunted in response, and turned to walk deeper into the archives.

Kiryu Yaya followed behind him, passing through rows of iron frames.

Morishita stopped in front of the shelf labeled "Guarantee Disposal Ledger," took a heavy cardboard box from it, and placed it on the retrieval table next to him.

"Eight assets... Eight assets..."

'

He muttered to himself as his finger slowly moved across the index card inside the box.

About two minutes later, he took out a card, glanced at it, and handed it to Kiryu Yaya.

"After the first year of Heisei, there were seven records of disposal involving eight assets."

Kiryu Yaya took the card and quickly scanned it.

Seven items.

He opened his notebook and began copying down the items one by one.

First item: In July of the first year of the Heisei era, a metal processing plant in Higashi-Osaka City disposed of its land as collateral. Eight Assets acquired the land at 60% of its appraised value.

Approver: Kiyomasa Ogaki.

Second: In November of the first year of the Heisei era, a construction company in Jie City jointly guaranteed the recovery of its debt. Eighth Asset acquired the debt at 50% of its book value.

Approver: Kiyomasa Ogaki.

The third item: In March of the second year of the Heisei era, a transportation company in Suminoe Ward disposed of collateral. Eight Assets acquired the real estate at 55% of the appraised value.

Approver: Kiyomasa Ogaki.

Fourth item: ————

Fifth item: ————

Sixth item: ————

Item 7: In April of the third year of Heisei (1904), a preliminary disposal of collateral related to Higashi-Osaka Seiko Co., Ltd. was carried out. Item 8 was included in the list of potential transferees.

Approver: Kiyomasa Ogaki.

Kiryu Yaya's pen paused briefly at the end of the seventh item.

Higashi-Osaka Seiko.

The person who approved this case was also Kiyomasa Ogaki.

He put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.

Seven cases.

The person who approved each and every item was Kiyomasa Ogaki.

Clearly, this is a complete chain of profit transfer.

Kiyomasa Ogaki approves and disburses loans—business deteriorates, loans become non-performing, banks dispose of collateral—Eight Assets takes over at a low price, profits flow into Kiyomasa Ogaki Asset Management Co., Ltd.—ultimately ending up in the pockets of Kiyomasa Ogaki's family.

However, looking at the whole picture, there is no coincidence to explain why the subjects of all seven cases were linked to the same external company, and the shareholder of this company happens to be the wife of the approver.

However, this logical chain alone is not enough.

No matter how complete the logical chain is, it cannot replace evidence of funds.

If the approver's signature, disposal records, and equity structure were laid out on the table, it would indeed be enough for the General Affairs Department and the Personnel Department to initiate accountability procedures against Kiyomasa Ogaki, and might even be enough to force him to retire early.

But to truly prevent Kiyomasa Ogaki from recovering his position and to solidify his criminal conviction for breach of duty, the most crucial link must be added:

Evidence of capital repatriation.

In other words, it must be proven that:

After acquiring the collateral at a low price, the premium profit from the disposal of the assets flowed back to Kiyomasa Ogaki or his relatives in some form.

One last step is needed—

Obtain evidence of Kiyomasa Ogaki's assets.

But this is also the most difficult step.

After clearing his mind, Kiryu Yaya opened his eyes and said to Morishita, "Morishita-senpai, thank you for your help again today."

Morishita waved his hand: "It's nothing. But Kiryu-kun, what you investigated today doesn't seem like ordinary post-loan management."

Kiryu Yaya smiled but did not answer.

Morishita didn't ask any further questions, but simply resealed the cardboard box and put it back on the shelf.

When Kiryu Yaya walked out of the underground storage room, it was already dark outside.

In mid-May, evenings arrive a little later in Osaka than in April.

But just after six o'clock, the streetlights on both sides of Midosuji lit up one after another, illuminating the entire street.

He stood on the steps outside the bank's side entrance, loosened his tie, and took a deep breath of the evening air. The corruption case involving Kiyomasa Ogaki was just one step away from being closed, like a screw that had already been tightened, needing only the final wrench to lock it completely shut.

But the problem is, where is this wrench?

Kiryu Yaya frowned as he walked towards the financing review department on the third floor.

Pushing open the fire door on the third floor, he found the corridor lights much brighter than the stairwell, making him squint slightly.

He walks this corridor several times a day, and he could walk it with his eyes closed without ever getting lost.

To the left are several offices of the General Affairs Department, to the right is the office area of ​​the International Finance Department, and then you go around a corner to reach the territory of the Finance Review Department.

He had only taken a few steps when the door to the general affairs office on his left was half open, and the sounds coming from inside clearly reached his ears.

"—That's Kiryu, from the Financing Review Division."

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