Chapter 76
Of Course!
The atmosphere inside Taeshin Trading's conference room grew even heavier as Tae Gun-seung continued his explanation.
And his explanation did not stop.
"Just ballparking the amount, it's 1 trillion won! What, is that somebody's dog's name? You think it just falls from the sky? Isn't this about what Mulsan's annual wage expenses are? And as I said before, do you even know what the money funneled into those shell companies is?"
Tae Gun-seung's gaze swept over several executives before returning to Tae Seok-hyun and Tae Seok-ho.
The moment their eyes met, Tae Seok-ho immediately sensed that something was seriously wrong.
That was because the affiliate company he had embezzled funds from wasn't just Taeshin Spintech.
Of course, he wasn't involved in the full amount mentioned, but his hands had touched a portion of it.
Unbeknownst to him, other places had also been investigated all this time.
Once again, everyone fell silent.
No one had dreamed that Chairman Tae Gun-seung and the TF division had investigated matters as deeply as this.
"Worried about the employees? Restructuring? If you all have mouths, why not speak up like before?! And show this information to those employees while you're at it, and ask them! Should the company turn a blind eye and keep people around who are doing things like this?!"
The mood became even more hostile.
At the same time, nobody dared to speak. Everyone was too preoccupied with protecting themselves.
With no choice, Tae Seok-ho, who had been quietly gauging the mood, finally stepped forward.
"Chairman, I believe the crux of the situation is the lack of evidence to support disciplinary action for the employees who recently passed away. If their wrongdoing had been clear, things wouldn't have gone that far, would they?"
A few nodded, as if to say that's what they had wanted to say all along...
Observing this, In-hyuk unconsciously shook his head.
"Division Director Kang In-hyuk, do you have something to say here?"
Tae Gun-seung, who had spotted In-hyuk's gesture from the center, asked.
In-hyuk sighed and turned on the microphone in front of him.
"Who says so? Who says there isn't enough evidence of those employees' violations of company policy and the law?"
Naturally, it was Tae Seok-ho who had to answer.
Of course, since Reina Blackwood had handled the issue, he had also thoroughly investigated the related matters.
"The grounds and measures for disciplinary action identified during the personnel restructuring for those two were, respectively, dismissal for receiving kickbacks and for embezzlement. If we look at Taeshin Energy's side only, the wrongdoing was committed by a team member directly under the person in question. However, not long after, through our own audit, it was confirmed that money had entered that employee's account, and that employee was immediately fired as a disciplinary measure."
He was referring to the employee who had died by suicide in Taeshin Energy's underground parking lot.
"Then was the money that the fired employee pocketed recovered?"
"No. Checking the records belatedly, it was revealed that the employee had already laundered and siphoned the funds overseas. After that, the employee was imprisoned."
"To be exact, not long after, he hanged himself in prison."
Unaware of that fact, people began to whisper again.
At that, Tae Gun-seung tapped the microphone with his hand.
*Thunk—Thunk—*
The heavy sound echoed and quieted the room again.
Meanwhile, Tae Seok-ho calmly looked at In-hyuk.
He too knew that the person mentioned before had killed himself.
He also understood that, even if the case were reopened, there was no way to uncover more now.
It was also for this reason that Reina had targeted the higher-up manager, who was the real recipient of the kickbacks.
"Division Director Kang In-hyuk, are you saying you interpret that as him being unjustly treated?"
"No. It wouldn't be a feeling of injustice, but rather resentment. The department manager he worked with got off scot-free, while he had to take all the blame alone."
"You don't know that. Those people aren't here, are they? In the end, the TF division drove a Taeshin Group employee to death based only on circumstantial evidence."
At this, In-hyuk's gaze cooled even further.
"Who says there was no evidence?"
"At the time, the police reported that they couldn't find any evidence that the late Manager Go Min-seok had received kickbacks. The same result came from Taeshin Energy and the head office audit division."
"It's not that they couldn't find it—it's that they didn't look."
Back then, the head of the audit division was Director Han Gi-seok, who was also on a leash held by In-hyuk.
Naturally, it was because there had been under-the-table dealings with someone in the Organization that the investigation had ended like that.
"I don't know what you mean. Has the TF division always investigated by twisting the facts like this?"
"I'm not talking about Manager Go Min-seok, but about evidence left behind by Manager Lee Min-jun, who killed himself in prison. It didn't come out until after the personnel restructuring had already been shared, so I didn't have a chance to show you before. But it turns out to come in handy now."
In-hyuk pulled a USB stick from his pocket and held it up.
Song Tae-ho, CEO Tae Gun-seung's secretary, approached, took it, and plugged it into the conference room screen.
Soon, the display changed to something else, showing account records with familiar company names making payments to a particular company.
In-hyuk continued.
"As you can see, the company that transferred the funds was a subcontractor doing business with Taeshin Energy. The account owner was a shell company."
"If that came from Manager Lee Min-jun, doesn't it make things even clearer?"
"If Manager Lee Min-jun was also the owner of the shell company, then yes. But the funds transferred from the shell company were then withdrawn by another shell company in Oklahoma, went through a money laundering organization, and a portion ended up with a certain individual residing in Korea."
As this alarming explanation continued, everyone fell silent.
Then, Song Tae-ho flipped to the next screen, and In-hyuk began the most important part of the explanation.
"It was the father-in-law of Manager Go Min-seok's wife. Incidentally, the money laundering organization I just mentioned was recently busted and is under investigation by the authorities and the prosecution. I obtained these materials through their cooperation. Oh, and of course, I handed them over to the prosecution yesterday. By now, both the wife and her father are probably being questioned together."
Currently, Go Min-seok's wife had been giving tearful interviews to the press, claiming her husband took his life unjustly.
Since the TF division's restructuring seemed unfair on the surface, public opinion had sympathized with her tears.
However, if the evidence In-hyuk just cited came to light, it was clear where the arrows aimed at Taeshin Group and the TF division would be redirected.
In the midst of the continued silence, In-hyuk looked at Tae Seok-ho and spoke.
"Honestly, looking at evidence and the circumstances like this, it's hard to find a reason for Manager Go Min-seok to commit suicide. Could it be—it wasn't a suicide? That's the kind of thought that comes up. Don't you agree, Executive Vice President Tae Seok-ho?"
The fists inside Tae Seok-ho's hands, stacked on the desk, clenched tightly.
He almost turned to glare at Reina sitting behind him, but realized it was a problem with what had happened before she took action.
"I must have misunderstood greatly. However..."
"Oh, and the same goes for Taeshin Heavy Industries' embezzlement case. You've been lining your pockets for years by inflating supply prices through companies registered under acquaintances overseas. The money was withdrawn via an overseas account, and that will be investigated by the prosecutors, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the IRS for violations of foreign exchange law and tax evasion."
Everyone was struck speechless.
The situation that seemed to have In-hyuk cornered had been completely overturned.
At this rate, it was obvious that catching In-hyuk would prove difficult.
After a while, as the silence broke and the room began to buzz, no one could easily speak up, unable to predict how the conversation would shift.
At that moment, Tae Seok-hyun, president of Taeshin Electronics and In-hyuk's father-in-law—who had kept silent so far—spoke.
"Let's set aside the topic of personnel restructuring for now. There's something I want to ask Division Director Kang In-hyuk. Is it true that you're planning to purchase a portion of Taeshin Life's shares in Taeshin Asset Management for your division's operational funds?"
This caught even In-hyuk slightly by surprise.
He had thought Chairman Tae Gun-seung had managed this matter thoroughly, but it had come out of none other than Tae Seok-hyun's mouth.
At the same time, another thought struck him.
'Did someone deliberately leak information to Tae Seok-hyun?'
Right now, most of the forces he could lean on were Tae Gun-seung's.
Naturally, the information he received was determined within the boundaries Tae Gun-seung allowed.
So the details about Taeshin Asset Management's shares were something Tae Gun-seung oversaw personally and wouldn't have provided to Tae Seok-hyun.
Naturally, all eyes turned to Tae Gun-seung.
In-hyuk was about to gauge whether he would step forward himself, but Tae Gun-seung merely met his gaze with an unexpectedly nonchalant expression.
'He gave me the share purchase agreement, so is he telling me to handle it myself?'
He was about to sigh again when he felt someone staring at him from the side.
It was Tae Ju-ha, staring at In-hyuk intently. She had had no idea about the deal In-hyuk and Tae Gun-seung were making.
"It's true. We plan to sign a contract to purchase 25% of Taeshin Asset Management's shares using profits from the MP Division."
The reason nobody else knew was simply that the purchase agreement hadn't been executed yet.
Unless it was made public, there was no way for anyone outside the parties involved to know.
"Considering the private market value of Taeshin Asset Management's unlisted stock, that should be at least 200 billion won. Are you saying the MP Division can cover that? Even if they can, that's a massive 200 billion! Wouldn't it be better for the group if those funds were used for operations instead? Wouldn't you agree?"
Tae Seok-hyun asked, as if inviting others' agreement.
Hearing the amount, people instinctively nodded their heads.
All the while, Tae Gun-seung remained silent, merely observing.
At this, In-hyuk felt a flicker of indignation and spoke up.
"This is the same argument as last time. In the end, you're dissatisfied that Taeshin Asset Management's surplus funds are going toward independence rather than the group, right?"
"It's not so much dissatisfaction, but as the head of the TF division, you know better than anyone the situation the group is in, right? There's also that one trillion won loss from the restructuring targets that the Chairman mentioned earlier. If you're part of Taeshin, it's only natural to focus on covering those losses."
"So then, CEO Tae Seok-hyun, are you saying that if Taeshin Electronics had surplus funds, you'd use them for the group?"
For only a fraction of a second, Tae Seok-hyun gauged the room before answering quickly.
"Of course!"
At that moment, In-hyuk responded as if he had been waiting for it.
"That's fortunate. To what I know, you've poured a significant amount of money into Taeshin Next, one of Taeshin Electronics' subsidiaries. In some areas, you've already allocated and paid out three years' worth of budget in advance. Altogether, that totals about 300 billion won."
Tae Seok-hyun's expression stiffened instantly. In-hyuk continued, not stopping there.
"Of course, I understand that Taeshin Next's funds are intended for future technology development. But if you don't even know the immediate crisis, is there really a need to allocate three years' worth in advance? I'll forgo the share purchase and divert 200 billion won toward the group's loss recovery fund, so why don't you join me, CEO?"
Other people's eyes turned to Tae Seok-hyun, waiting for his answer. But Tae Seok-hyun stiffened and bit his lip.
"That... That money is for developing upgraded AI technology and parts for next year's new products. This isn't something that can be done in a year or two, so the prepayment is necessary. Touching those funds means jeopardizing the future of Taeshin Electronics."
It wasn't an unreasonable explanation—if, of course, it was true.
Before re-auditing through the TF division, In-hyuk had already known about issues at Taeshin Next.
He was aware that Tae Seok-hyun was cycling internal funds to patch up losses at Taeshin Electronics...
In the original timeline, Tae Seok-ho succeeded in manipulating Taeshin Electronics in precisely that way—with In-hyuk's help.
"There isn't an immediate problem, right? In fact, spending the budget heavily at the outset can raise tax issues. Taeshin Electronics may face cash flow problems as a result. Isn't it better to divert the money to the group now? If a problem arises, we'll support you with profits from our side as an investment."
He pressed the point with various reasons, leaving no room for escape.
The differences that had arisen to ensnare In-hyuk during the meeting began to unravel.
The enormous financial clout that Taeshin Asset Management—once just a Taeshin Life subsidiary—now possessed had changed everything.
Another silence settled over the room.
Then, Tae Gun-seung twitched his wrinkled lips and switched on the microphone.
"We can discuss the group's loss funds again later. Since the situation is more or less settled, let's proceed with the vote on the personnel restructuring."
The executives threw sour looks at Tae Seok-hyun and Tae Seok-ho.
Once personnel restructuring commenced, not only would their cronies be gone, but it would be difficult for them to keep their own seats.
Of course, this was tantamount to destroying the ambitions of those who had hoped to serve as the kingmakers to Taeshin Group's next chairman.