After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Got Divorced and Found a Thousand Bitcoins Episode 022

[The number of victims of jeonse fraud occurring throughout the Suwon area is rapidly increasing. Police authorities report that the number of victims has already exceeded one thousand…]

[In Incheon Gyeyang-gu, an incident occurred where a city hall civil servant disappeared with jeonse funds from villas he owned…]

[Jeonse fraud victims are increasing rapidly every year. The scale of jeonse fraud this year is estimated to have exceeded 1.2 trillion won…]

Jeonse fraud was running rampant.

It was no longer someone else’s story.

In online communities, you could easily hear stories from those who had become victims.

-I got scammed in a jeonse fraud. I really want to die. The 100 million won I saved my whole life disappeared in an instant. No one compensates for it.

-My cousin got scammed in jeonse fraud this time and almost made an extreme choice but barely saved his life.

-I hurriedly came down to my hometown after hearing news that a high school classmate had passed away. I heard he lost all the wealth he had saved his entire life to jeonse fraud and hanged himself. I wish people would realize that while it might be just pocket change to some, it’s a lifetime of savings to others.

Most people grieved and felt pain together over these stories.

But not everyone was like that.

-If you do a little research, you won’t get scammed by jeonse fraud. They don’t know that and get scammed.

-Honestly, isn’t it partly the fault of those who get scammed?

-Why do they fall for jeonse fraud? Everything shows up if you check the property register.

-It was wrong from the start to get into an empty shell property.

There were even those who blamed the victims for what happened.

One thing was certain: jeonse fraud was no longer someone else’s story.

‘Mother was also a victim.’

Although there was still time left on the contract, the landlord was already preparing to flee.

“The landlord who contracted with the CEO’s mother is a company called UJ Village. This place owns a total of 130 villas. Among these, 41 households that signed contracts first are unable to get their deposits back.”

The situation was bad.

If they didn’t resolve it quickly, JS Construction, which was the developer, could escape.

“Let’s proceed quickly.”

“Yes. First, we need a contract with a law firm to handle matters related to the lawsuit.”

What an accounting firm could do was limited.

But if they contracted with legal representatives, they could handle everything directly up to litigation.

So the most ideal approach was for a law firm and accounting firm to work together as a team.

After getting advice, Kang Hyeon immediately signed a contract with Choi & Jang Law Firm, South Korea’s top law firm.

“This is Attorney Choi Kyeong-min who will help with this dispute.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Choi Kyeong-min.”

“I’m Manager Jeong Min-jun from Samil Accounting Firm.”

After brief introductions, they explained the plan.

“I understand everything. All the team members from our office will cooperate to support this case.”

Choi & Jang was a place that operated in teams.

Since they couldn’t all come to the field, team leader Choi Kyeong-min accompanied them as a representative.

“How far along are the current preparations?”

“We’ve finished preparing to establish a new corporation. We’ll use KH Capital as the holding company and create a company called KH Recovery Co., Ltd.”

“That’s an appropriate choice. If KH Capital, a family office, comes to the forefront of this matter, its image as an investment company could be damaged.”

Choi Kyeong-min immediately grasped the current picture.

“Shall we start right away then?”

“Good.”

Having the nation’s top law firm accompanying them was incredibly reassuring.

* * *

Choi So-yeon came to the office.

“I’ll proceed with the fund transfer.”

“Yes, please proceed.”

With her handling the funds as the person in charge of the finance team, the first stage of preparation was complete.

“Transfer completed.”

“Thank you for your hard work. I’m sorry for suddenly asking you to come to the company during your vacation.”

“Not at all! I was just spending time at home watching Netflix during my vacation anyway.”

“You should go on a trip or something. You stayed home?”

“Hehe, I like being at home.”

Everyone had different ways of healing.

She was a thorough homebody with her own way of healing.

“Is there anything else to do?”

“No, it’s fine now. This is for taxi fare.”

“Hey! It’s okay! I received a big bonus. I’ll head home now!”

“Get home safely.”

After seeing her off, he immediately called Attorney Choi Kyeong-min.

“I just completed the transfer.”

-Thank you for your hard work. We’ll process the NPL (non-performing loan) acquisition quickly.

Attorney Choi Kyeong-min began the NPL acquisition as KH Recovery’s representative.

The cost was substantial.

-The total asset value of the bonds is 350 billion won. However, due to current delinquencies and lowered credit ratings, the current value of the bonds is set at 250 billion won.

Banks want to quickly dispose of high-risk bonds before their value drops further.

Now the important thing was to enter negotiations for the bonds that had dropped to a value of 250 billion won.

Kang Hyeon moved his ballpoint pen on blank paper.

‘How much discount can we get? 200 billion won?’

Scratch-!

When he wrote 200 billion, a very faint red light appeared.

That meant one thing.

It wasn’t the right price.

‘190 billion?’

The color became a little darker.

‘170 billion.’

Gradually lowering the price.

‘140 billion.’

He confirmed the price he should buy at.

‘115 billion.’

And then a brighter light than ever burst from the numbers.

‘Found it.’

After confirming that, Kang Hyeon immediately told Choi Kyeong-min.

“Please set the price at 115 billion.”

-…Understood. I’ll proceed with negotiations and contact you.

The call ended.

There seemed to be a moment of hesitation.

“Well, it should be fine.”

He was a lawyer from the most trustworthy place in South Korea.

The work would surely be completed more cleanly than ever.

[Negotiations are finished. We’ve agreed to acquire the bonds for 112 billion won.]

He let out a hollow laugh.

They had cut an additional 3 billion from the price he had mentioned.

‘There’s a reason why people keep saying Choi & Jang, Choi & Jang.’

Now it was time to wrap things up.

“I’ll be there soon.”

* * *

JS Global Construction.

President Oh Jeong-seok frowned as he looked at Kang Hyeon in front of him.

‘This young punk acquired all the bonds?’

At most, he looks to be in his early thirties.

And that guy acquired all the bonds.

‘Does that make sense?’

It made sense.

“These are the documents showing the bond acquisition. Please take a look.”

He picked up the documents to check them.

It was true.

All the bonds had been transferred to a company called KH Recovery.

‘Why didn’t I know about this?’

When bonds are transferred, that fact is notified to the company.

But it was puzzling that he didn’t know this fact until this man came.

This was intentional on Kang Hyeon’s part.

When making the bond transfer contract, he included a clause that the change of creditor would not be disclosed until legal notice was sent.

With this clause included, he was able to delay the timing as much as possible.

“Since you seem to have finished checking, I’ll get to the main point.”

Oh Jeong-seok’s gaze fixed on Kang Hyeon.

“On behalf of creditor KH Recovery, I request that you provide an exact date for debt repayment.”

“Well… even if you suddenly say this, the company’s situation is difficult these days. If you tell us to repay immediately, we have no way to do so.”

Even though the owner of the bonds had changed, nothing else would change.

‘What can you do if we declare bankruptcy?!’

When a corporation goes bankrupt, its assets are divided among creditors and the corporation disappears.

In other words, Oh Jeong-seok, as the representative, would have no debt responsibility.

There was no way Kang Hyeon didn’t know this fact.

“Even if you bankrupt the corporation, if evidence of embezzlement or breach of trust emerges, you cannot escape criminal responsibility as the representative.”

“Em… embezzlement! Do you have evidence?!”

Kang Hyeon smiled and introduced Manager Jeong who was sitting beside him.

“Let me introduce you. This is Manager Jeong Min-jun from Samil Accounting Firm.”

Jeong Min-jun handed over his business card at the right timing.

Oh Jeong-seok’s face hardened as he received it.

‘Samil is full of M&A experts, right? These guys specialize in uncovering corruption by shaking down every speck of dust from dissolving companies…’

That wasn’t the end of it.

“And this person is lawyer Choi Kyeong-min from Choi & Jang Law Firm.”

“I’m Choi Kyeong-min.”

Another business card was handed over.

Oh Jeong-seok’s face turned pale as he received it.

‘Even Choi & Jang? Who the hell is this guy?’

He wondered who this young man was, appearing with even a lawyer from Choi & Jang, the nation’s top law firm.

But the important thing was, if these two firms went after him, they could probably create corruption even where none existed.

‘If they shake me down thoroughly, all the embezzlement will be exposed…!’

Oh Jeong-seok was not an honest businessman.

Every night, he spent corporate funds at bars.

He appointed family members as executives, siphoned off company assets, and obtained illegal profits by manipulating contracts.

Besides that, he had committed various illegal acts knowingly and unknowingly.

If those were exposed, he couldn’t escape criminal responsibility.

‘He’s wavering.’

Kang Hyeon sensed Oh Jeong-seok wavering and drove in the wedge.

“If you cooperate with me, I can reduce your criminal responsibility.”

“Co… cooperation, you mean?”

“Yes.”

He had completely come over.

Now it was time to play the card he wanted.

“You hold a 66 percent stake in JS Global Construction, don’t you?”

“Yes… that’s correct, but.”

“Transfer that to me.”

Oh Jeong-seok’s eyes widened upon hearing this.

‘He’s saying he’ll eliminate the corporate debt. Does this guy think he can extract money from the land?’

Someone who didn’t properly understand construction or PF could think that.

The land value of the Yeongjong Island villa complex was around 180 billion won.

‘Even if he bought the bad debt at roughly 50 percent, that’s 150 billion won. If it’s lower than that, he might think he can recover it and make a profit if all the land is sold.’

On the surface, one could certainly think that way.

But if villas are built on the land, the story is different.

Unless all the villas were demolished, the land had no value.

That’s what the law said.

‘Other criminal responsibilities remain, but I can just run away before that. Besides, being free from responsibility for 300 billion won is something.’

Civil responsibility for 300 billion won.

Since he had no intention of bearing that responsibility, he was planning to flee to Cambodia.

But if he transferred the company, he would be free from that responsibility.

‘The Choi & Jang lawyer or Samil accountant couldn’t have failed to advise him about this…’

Oh Jeong-seok knew well.

How overconfident people don’t listen to others’ advice.

Since he was like that, he thought others would be too.

‘This is an opportunity!’

A golden opportunity that came to his life.

He had no intention of missing it.

“Fine, I’ll transfer the shares!”

Kang Hyeon’s smile deepened at his choice.

* * *

The procedures proceeded swiftly.

Choi & Jang and Samil worked together to complete the share transfer procedures and thoroughly searched the company’s interior.

And the result was clear.

“The company has been run like garbage. Corporate funds were withdrawn and used as if they were his own money.”

“He embezzled corporate funds by creating inflated estimates through various partner companies to extract money.”

“Moreover, he continued construction using lower-quality materials than what was contracted.”

“The company was operated in an absurd manner.”

Oh Jeong-seok had run the company as if it were his personal property.

As a result, what had been a solid mid-sized construction company collapsed within a few years.

“Please proceed with filing charges based on the relevant details. Also report the suspected tax evasion parts to the Financial Supervisory Service.”

“What do you plan to do about the agreed-upon parts?”

“Let’s ignore the embezzlement from the past 2 years. That was part of the negotiation.”

“Phew, even though it’s 2 years, there’s so much he did before that it probably won’t mean much.”

Since there was so much corruption, even reducing it a little wouldn’t help him avoid prison time.

“Being free from responsibility for the 300 billion won debt would have been his first priority.”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, Manager Jeong Min-jun asked cautiously.

“President, but what do you plan to do now? While the land value is higher than the bond purchase price, as I mentioned before, selling the land is difficult.”

Kang Hyeon already knew all the facts.

And what he needed to do next.

“I know. So I think you two will need to move a bit more.”

Both people’s gazes turned to Kang Hyeon.

“Please purchase all the villas currently built on this land. If they’re under corporate names, please proceed with acquiring the corporations themselves.”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, Jeong Min-jun asked.

“Do you understand what that means? Currently, all the villas in this region have jeonse deposits that exceed their value. If we acquire all the corporations that own villas, all the jeonse deposits become your responsibility. Even at 100 million won per unit, that amount is 230 billion won.”

“Yes, I’m aware. The corporations can’t afford that amount, so if we take responsibility for the jeonse deposits, they’ll hand them over at rock-bottom prices.”

“That… that may be true, but then the possibility of recovering the invested funds becomes low.”

The funds invested in bonds were 112 billion won.

The funds needed to purchase the villas would be approximately 230 billion won.

This alone amounts to 342 billion won.

There had never been a case where such large-scale land and buildings were sold all at once.

Actually, that wasn’t entirely true.

Lawyer Choi Kyeong-min, who had been listening to the conversation, asked Kang Hyeon.

“Don’t tell me you know that something is coming to this region?”

If a large-scale government project or local government project was underway, it would be possible to buy up land and buildings of this scale all at once.

Lawyer Choi Kyeong-min asked this after figuring that out.

However, instead of answering, Kang Hyeon shifted his gaze to the map attached to the wall.

The map showing the Yeongjong Island villa complex was blazing like a campfire on a midwinter night.

“We’ll see in time.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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