Chapter 83: Verification! No One Understands Compliance Better Than Me! |
An advanced method of subsidy fraud...
There were many illegal ways to make money in this field. One could use fake headcounts to claim government subsidies, buy low and sell high, or even directly traffic people.
But among them, there was one advanced method of subsidy fraud.
Although it would be stopped by 2024, it still existed right now in 2002. That was...
"Occupying the international adoption quota."
Xu De casually mentioned it, then turned to look at Lin Yue.
"Does True Monarch know about this?"
Lin Yue opened her mouth, then fell silent. She nodded. "I know."
Then.
"Next, he had the Greenwood City Jiaqin Welfare Institute take them in."
"And then, he directly transferred the children to welfare institutes in the provincial capital."
It was easy to understand.
Think of it like Zheng Tong buying a piece of candy from a small shop, and then giving that candy to someone else.
But the problem was...
"How does this make a profit?"
Wang Chao was astonished.
Zheng Tong bought the candy to make a profit. If he gave the candy to others and wanted to make money, then they would have to pay a higher price than the supermarket.
But here came the issue.
If other people wanted candy, why didn't they just go to the supermarket themselves?!
By the same logic.
The welfare institutes in the provincial capital wanted children, but weren't they already taking in orphans themselves?
"The key point is, these large welfare institutes..."
Lin Yue paused, revealing something very few people knew about.
"They have international adoption quotas!"
"That means they have quotas for foreign couples to adopt abandoned children from Dongguo."
Perhaps the vast majority of people had never thought about this.
If foreigners wanted to adopt an orphan from Dongguo, could they just say the word and get one?
No, they couldn't.
Ninety-nine percent of orphanages did not have the qualifications to allow foreigners to adopt children.
In other words, the government placed restrictions and set quotas every year on foreigners adopting children.
For example, if Qingwu Province had a thousand quotas this year, they might allocate fifty of them to a large welfare institute. At the same time, they would grant this institute certain qualifications and privileges, allowing them to be evaluated as a 'high-level welfare institute'.
"Every time adopters finish the adoption process, they typically donate three thousand dollars, which is about twenty thousand Dongguo currency."
"And foreigners are human too."
"They definitely have their own requirements when adopting a child. So if there isn't a suitable one, they naturally won't adopt."
"At this time, the large welfare institute will go through its channels to look into lower-level, smaller welfare institutes. If there is a suitable child, they will be transferred to the large welfare institute, and then adopted by the foreigners."
"Subsequently, the large welfare institute will hand over all of this three-thousand-dollar donation to the small welfare institute."
Lin Yue spoke slowly, explaining the logic behind Zheng Tong's profit very clearly.
Human traffickers made money, but they also didn't make much.
In 2002, there were even human traffickers who sold children wholesale at a price of 800 to 1500 each.
Zheng Tong, however, used this rule to buy a healthy child at a low price, and then reaped the high-priced donation.
What?
What if the bought child wasn't chosen and it became a sunk cost? It didn't matter.
Young, healthy children would naturally be adopted by other normal families, and their donations would offset the cost.
Food, clothing, and housing were all reimbursed by government subsidies.
But as long as he could get three thousand dollars... that would be a starting net profit of straight-up twenty thousand.
Twenty thousand yuan in 2002!
"That's not right!"
Wang Chao suddenly realized something. He frowned and pinched his chin.
"Then... what are the large welfare institutes after? They don't keep any of the three thousand dollars? What's in it for them!?"
Yes.
This was a very tricky angle.
The large welfare institutes consumed their limited quotas, had to use subsidies to raise the children, and didn't even want the donations. Why were they going through all that trouble for nothing?
"Because of evaluations."
"There are three key criteria in the evaluation for high-level welfare institutes, and one of them is the 'completion rate of international adoptions'."
Lin Yue shook her head and explained, "The government gives high-level welfare institutes fifty international adoption quotas every year."
"If they use them all up and have a high utilization rate, they get bonus points and can be rated as a 'first-class institute' or 'model welfare institute'."
"And vice versa."
As she spoke.
She paused for a moment and added, "As for why they seem so eager... it's similar to research funding for laboratories in the academic circle."
"If you don't use up all the funding this year..."
"Then the government will reduce the allocation next year. So when some schools have a bunch of funding left at the end of the year, they will try everything to spend it all, just so their funding remains abundant next year."
Researchers were basically forced to spend all their funding.
For instance.
You research something, and the school approves ten million in funding for you. If you only use five million this year, then next year, the school will downgrade your allocation, reducing it to eight million or seven million.
But you can't guarantee you'll only use five million every time. What if you exceed the budget later but have no money left?
Therefore, to avoid getting less money next year, you absolutely must spend the remaining five million at the end of the year, no matter what.
This way, on paper, it looks like your laboratory spent at least ten million this year, and if they reduce your allocation, it will cause your experiments to stall. So next year, you continue to get ten million.
"It's the same for high-level welfare institutes, but their evaluation performance is even more direct."
"If your welfare institute has fifty international adoption quotas this year and you can't use them up, then next year you'll be reduced to thirty."
"A sudden drop in quotas will cause a bunch of chain reactions."
Lin Yue spoke, clearly and thoroughly explaining the matter of Zheng Tong buying children.
Although the international adoption quotas would end in 2024, they still existed right now in 2002.
"Thus, the high-level welfare institutes won't take a single cent."
"They just want to use up the quotas, and the small welfare institutes happen to lack money. Going back and forth like this..."
"..."
"This model began operating, functioning as an 'advanced' way of subsidy fraud."
When she finished speaking.
Wang Chao felt as if he had been enlightened, instantly understanding.
No wonder Zheng Tong took the risk of finding human traffickers to buy children when he had nothing else to do...
And no wonder Xu De checked the personnel movement records right from the start!
"Could that Cheng Tao be..."
Wang Chao suddenly widened his eyes and spoke in astonishment.
Xu De shook his head, bluntly denying it. "No, Cheng Tao didn't do it... or rather, although she is using this to make money, she hasn't crossed the line. She hasn't bought from human traffickers."
"The children transferred to the high-level welfare institutes are all legitimate abandoned infants."
Although it sounded a bit like some sort of shady dealing for profit.
In reality, it didn't violate any laws. It fell within a reasonable scope; it was legal and compliant. Even if the police investigated, they couldn't pick any faults.
Only Zheng Tong sought out human traffickers!
He just so happened to have bought Liu Jingqi.
"In other words."
"Liu Jingqi was brought to Greenwood City as a healthy child meant to be handed over to foreign couples for adoption."
Lin Yue brought the topic back on track, speaking thoughtfully.
"It's just that she ultimately ended up being adopted by Liu Hao and his wife instead."
Wang Chao perked up, his expression serious, both hands gripping the steering wheel.
"What's the plan? Do we go to the police or report it to the procuratorate!?"
This already involved an abduction and trafficking case, and a very ugly one at that...
The police would definitely have to handle it.
However...
"Neither."
In the passenger seat, Xu De thought for a moment before finally shaking his head.
Wang Chao was stunned. "Neither!?"
"Neither!"
Xu De nodded.
"First of all, Zheng Tong has already retired, and the children he bought have basically all been properly settled with adoptive families."
"Secondly, he's been retired for at least six years!"
"Six years... heaven knows where the human traffickers have run off to. Although the police will accept the case, the extent to which they'll prioritize it won't be particularly high."
"Or rather... their effort in thoroughly investigating human trafficking cases spanning a long timeframe won't be significant. Instead, they'll focus their energy on rectifying the welfare institutes in Greenwood City."
The difficulty of solving human trafficking cases was simply too great.
If it had just happened, it would be easy to handle; the police across the entire district would lock things down and directly arrest the suspects.
But it happened six years ago...
Finding them was impossible. At most, they would compile the child's characteristics and publish them to see if they matched the traits families searching for their relatives were looking for... though the biological parents might not even see the police notices.
Then what about only investigating Liu Jingqi? After all, they already had clues.
"A cross-city police cooperation spanning nearly two thousand kilometers?"
Xu De said, and as he spoke, even he sighed.
It wasn't that he was mocking them.
It was just too slow!
Filing reports, holding meetings, finding Cheng Tao and Zheng Tong to investigate the case, Zheng Tong stubbornly denying it, Zheng Tong confessing, more meetings, discussions, applications...
Whether they could sort it out in a month was another story entirely!
If there was objective evidence to prove Liu Jingqi was an adult, it would be fine.
But the five or six years old that Cheng Tao mentioned fell perfectly within the error margin of plus or minus two years stated by the forensic appraisal institution, meaning she could easily continue to be tried as a sixteen-year-old.
Furthermore.
What if Liu Jingqi claimed she wasn't abducted? That would drag things out for a much longer time.
After all, Liu Jingqi had already been arrested, so delaying wouldn't have a major impact on her containment.
In short...
"If you're willing to waste all your time here for the next half year, then you can prioritize reporting it to the police for them to investigate."
"Of course, I don't mean we shouldn't call the police."
"But when we do, we omit the part about Liu Jingqi and only talk about the welfare institute fishing for subsidies. While we privately..."
Xu De casually stated.
Hearing this, Wang Chao immediately fell into deep thought.
"Isn't that a violation of the rules for us?"
"A violation? What violation!?"
Xu De suddenly retorted. With a serious face, he turned to the other man and said, "First, we aren't going to look up files, and second, we aren't going to the Civil Affairs Bureau either."
"We are just going to Lian Mountain County for a trip, walking around, and casually chatting with the locals."
"How is that a violation!?"
No one understood compliance better than Xu De!
Wang Chao was instantly left speechless. He couldn't say a word for a long time, ultimately raising a silent thumbs-up.
Seeing this, Xu De adjusted his posture again and glanced back at Lin Yue in the back seat.
"What about you, True Monarch?"
"You both already said it like that, what other opinion could I possibly have?"
Lin Yue sighed, spreading her hands in agreement.
Whether they told the police or not, omitting the matter of Liu Jingqi wouldn't affect the time the police spent tracking her down. Why?
Because even if the police knew about Liu Jingqi in advance, they would still have to finish investigating the overall case first before sparing a few people to go to Lian Mountain County.
While they exploited the information gap...
They could rapidly investigate the case without breaking any rules!
"Then let's go."
Lin Yue nodded.
It was just that Lian Mountain County was nearly two thousand kilometers away from them; it would probably take some time.
Xu De thought about it, then asked, "Does True Monarch know how to cast hand seals?"
Lin Yue paused, subconsciously replying, "What hand seals?"
Xu De gestured with his hands while describing it aloud, "You know, the kind of seal you pinch with your fingers, and then you can shrink the ground into inches, running hundreds of kilometers in the blink of an eye!"
"Do you know how to pinch it, True Monarch?"
Lin Yue: ...
Lin Yue fell silent. It had been a very, very long time since she had been left this thoroughly speechless.
"To be honest, I suddenly feel like you've got quite the loose tongue sometimes..."
"So do you know how to pinch it, True Monarch?"
"Come a little closer..."
"...Okay... What are you pinching me for!"
"Hmph..."
That same day, the 18th, at 1:30 PM.
Greenwood City, detention center.
Inside the interrogation room.
"Liu Jingqi, is it? It's still not too late to confess. Lu Guangjun has already spilled everything."
Prosecutor Huang Shi sat across the table, his gloomy eyes staring fixedly at the person in front of him.
This was the interrogation room of the detention center.
The surrounding environment was dark, devoid of light, making the entire room feel incredibly oppressive.
Liu Jingqi sat opposite Huang Shi. Seeing him like this, she immediately let out a disdainful scoff, leaning back in her chair, clearly too lazy to bother with him.
"You!"
Huang Shi's face turned ugly. It was his first time encountering someone so stubborn, impervious to both hard and soft tactics.
"The police have already corroborated the statements with Lu Guangjun. The crime scene perfectly matches his description. You won't be able to escape the charge of intentional homicide."
"Liu Jingqi, if you confess now, compensate the family, and apologize, there is still a shred of a chance to salvage this!"
He stared intently at her.
He hadn't planned to continue interrogating her today, but when he slept, the faces of Zhao Li and Yang Jiale appeared in his dreams.
In the dream.
Zhao Li had saved up enough money to install a brand-new air conditioner for Yang Jiale. Yang Jiale, with her excellent grades, had gotten into a good school and wanted to make money to treat Zhao Li's leg. Sun Zhigang personally hosted the college admission banquet. Yang Huan was still mischievous, and the whole family was joyous, preparing for the New Year.
Then he woke up.
The freezing December wind blew through the streets. The victim's family was shattered. On New Year's Eve, Yang Huan would face a cold, dead silent, gloomy house, sitting there all alone in a silent daze.
Therefore.
Huang Shi had come.
Except...
"Even if I don't apologize, I still have the chance for leniency."
A grin appeared on Liu Jingqi's face. It was obvious she didn't take his words to heart at all.
"Then why should I apologize?"
"You!"
Huang Shi slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his face extremely gloomy.
Yet he could do absolutely nothing about her.
Arrogant... he had never seen anyone so arrogant, but he was completely helpless. Reality was exactly as she had said.
Even if she didn't apologize and had a terrible attitude, she could still get leniency!
The law clearly stated that sixteen-year-olds 'shall be given a lighter or mitigated punishment'.
And in the articles of law, the word 'shall' wasn't a suggestion.
It was virtually a 'must'; it was compulsory!
Unless the process of Liu Jingqi's murder was extremely brutal and egregious, she would not receive a heavy sentence despite her unrepentant attitude.
And right at this moment...
"Buzz-buzz-buzz~"
On the table, a phone suddenly began to vibrate.
Huang Shi glanced at the caller ID. He was just about to hang up, but paused slightly when he saw who was calling.
The next second.
He stood up, walked to the side, and answered it.
Liu Jingqi didn't care in the slightest, sitting at the interrogation table picking her fingernails. It was obvious she was completely dismissive of the deaths of Yang Jiale and Zhao Li.
"Hello?"
Huang Shi answered. "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise buzz off."
On the other end of the line.
Xu De's voice came through. "Sounds like Prosecutor Huang is in a bad mood today?"
"Cut the crap!"
Huang Shi only felt frustrated and agitated inside.
"It's nothing major. I'm just telling you that I won't be in the province for the next couple of days. I went out."
Huang Shi paused.
"Where did you go?"
Huang Shi asked.
From the speaker, a few words were transmitted, "Lian Mountain County."
Huang Shi became even more puzzled. "Lian Mountain County?"
"What place is that?"
"Nothing much, just a small county. I went over for some business..."
"A small county?"
Huang Shi was somewhat baffled.
Although the second trial for the case was still a week away and there seemed to be plenty of time...
Leaving the province meant a round trip plus taking time to adjust, which would burn at least four days!
Moreover...
Where was Lian Mountain County? Why was the other party going there in his free time?
Huang Shi's frown deepened as he continuously questioned Xu De.
However...
What he didn't notice was...
Sitting in the chair in front of the interrogation table, picking her nails with a cheeky grin on her face, Liu Jingqi suddenly froze.
She looked up at Huang Shi, a flash of utter shock appearing in her eyes.
Lian... Lian Mountain County!?
Huang Shi asked, "What are you doing over there when you have nothing else to do?"