“Prosecutor Kim! Please, hear me out for a moment!”
Prosecutor Kim Won-seok of the Financial Investigation Department frowned as he looked at Lee Jong-su, who had come to see him yet again today.
It had already been a month.
As the allegations of stock price manipulation increasingly took shape, public resentment toward the financial authorities was growing. Complaints had exploded, saying that the Financial Supervisory Service should also be included in the investigation, and Lee Jong-su, his senior from school, had shown up again today.
“Senior, if you keep doing this, it puts me in a difficult position too. Do you know how many warrants I filed just yesterday? Because of that, I couldn’t even take care of my wedding anniversary, and my wife’s about ready to leave the house.”
“I know, I know. How could I not know your troubles?”
“If you know so well, why did you come again?”
“Because I feel wronged. Hm? I honestly feel like I’m about to weep tears of blood.”
Damn it. Maybe he shouldn’t have graduated from Seoul National University’s economics department. Seniors whose names and faces he hadn’t even known back in school came looking for him only at times like this, wiping away tears and pouring out their grievances.
“How can the Financial Supervisory Service be included in the scope of the investigation? We really did our best. We mobilized every program and every available hand and never neglected stock surveillance!”
“I believe you. But that’s how procedure works, isn’t it? We’ll just confirm whether there was an insider or not and be done with it, so don’t worry too much.”
“That in itself is a disgrace to our FSS!”
Oops... Lee Jong-su, whose voice had suddenly risen, quickly lowered his posture.
At this moment, if he recklessly got on the prosecution’s nerves, he could not guarantee his survival.
“That’s not what I meant. What I mean is, something’s strange. Hm? Don’t you think it’s strange too?”
“What’s strange?”
“Before the bomb went off, the pension fund completely cleared out its assets. And a few days later, Changcheng hit them with short selling, but the money just so happened to be assets entrusted to them by the pension fund? You still don’t think that’s strange?”
“Haa...”
“If there’s an insider, it would be on that side. How would there be one on our side? I’m asking you to take that into consideration.”
Prosecutor Kim rubbed his face with dry hands and glared at Lee Jong-su.
“You’re asking me to muddy the waters?”
“...Help me.”
“No, Senior, how am I supposed to muddy the waters here?”
“We made mistakes too, but it’s not like the pension fund did anything right. The stock market was devastated by Chinese capital, wasn’t it? Then did the pension fund do well?”
Prosecutor Kim knew very well why Lee Jong-su was making such unreasonable claims.
They could not withstand the people’s resentment.
This had not been a scheme that had blown up in some penny stock, but one that had occurred in a proper KOSPI-listed public corporation. The further the investigation progressed, the more plainly the financial authorities’ sloppy attitude was revealed, and both the Blue House and the National Assembly scolded the public service discipline with one voice.
“It isn’t only our fault... Hm? The pension fund that entrusted capital to a Chinese fund company didn’t do anything right either.”
Fortunately, public opinion was not bad.
The investors who had lost money resented the pension fund that had commissioned the short selling more than the authorities’ lax supervision.
If they could raise that public opinion just a little more... this was a problem they could break through.
“What are you going to do by using a drag-them-down-with-you tactic in this situation? I don’t think this is that kind of problem.”
“I’ll take care of what comes after. You just need to include in the investigation how the pension fund’s selling timing lined up so perfectly, and whether there were any unsavory circumstances when the pension fund selected its entrusted manager. I’ll handle the rest.”
In the meantime, the two of them had already arrived in front of the interrogation room.
Prosecutor Kim crossed his arms and looked at Lee Jong-su with a serious expression.
“Senior, instead of doing this, wouldn’t it be better to just prostrate yourself and beg forgiveness?”
“...What?”
“Say that the crime type was different from anything before, that you’ll strengthen internal monitoring... Can’t you just apologize like that and end it?”
“If I thought bowing my head would end it, would I have come looking for you?”
“Or maybe you could show a somewhat responsible attitude, Senior...?”
“Are you telling me to resign right now? How can you do this to me? Do you know how much the inside information on the securities market I’ve given you all this time was worth?”
Prosecutor Kim frowned.
As expected, it had come down to this in the end.
“Then why don’t you explain it yourself, Senior?”
“...What?”
And when the door to the interrogation room opened, Lee Jong-su froze as if he had seen Medusa.
Beyond the one-way mirror, three auditors from the Board of Audit and Inspection and one man were asking questions, and that one man was... none other than Choi Dong-gi, whom he had recently banished to the Insurance Division.
-Team Leader Choi Dong-gi. I’ll say this again, but you must not make things up out of resentment. You could receive a greater punishment, understood?
-Of course. Everything I have told you so far is true. I submitted reports five times.
-Then do you believe this was an incident that could have been prevented?
-Although it was quite an altered method, it was not to the point that the authorities could not have suspected it at all. Above all... the stock of a public corporation rose fivefold. Considering the nature of the company, anyone could tell it was an abnormal rise.
-Very well... Then let me ask you one last thing. Why are you voluntarily appearing before the prosecution and even calling in our Board of Audit and Inspection to confess this?
-...After the final report, I received what was clearly a retaliatory personnel transfer. I want to return to my original position.
Lee Jong-su, who had heard all of this outside the interrogation room, wore a vacant expression.
Prosecutor Kim consoled him.
“Senior... I’m sorry, but this isn’t at the stage where we can get past it by muddying the waters with Chinese capital or whatever.”
“...”
“Hurry up and clean things up and bring it to an end. The less filth splashes on you, even a little, the easier it’ll be to get another job...”
*
[Breaking News - FSS Stock Surveillance Office Director Resigns!]
[Director Lee Jong-su: “I Keenly Feel Responsible, I Have No Words for the People”]
[Prosecution Expands Suspect List to 15 as of Today... Dismisses Rumors of an FSS Insider]
[Investor Group Protests Again Today in Front of FSS: “Incompetence Is Complicity Too!”]
[“The Short-Selling Incident from China, the Client Was the Pension Fund!” Some Voices Criticize This as Well...]
After nearly two months had passed since the short-selling incident, everything became clear.
The prosecution grasped all of the forces’ movements and revealed that it had been a considerably altered method. However, if one had watched carefully, it was not a method that would have been impossible to identify.
Because of that, a large number of the Stock Surveillance Office leadership resigned... but the one that had actually benefited the most was Changcheng Fund, so the pension fund could not completely avoid the fragments of that resentment either.
“You’ve worked hard, CEO Ming.”
One day, after the situation had been settled to some extent, I met with CEO Ming Wei.
“What work did I do? All I did was receive information in advance and sell... More importantly, are you all right, Team Leader?”
“Don’t worry. Our general consensus is that we prevented greater victims by detonating the bomb early. NPS will absolutely not hold Changcheng accountable for this issue.”
“That is a relief. Thank you for helping. And thank you for increasing our seed money as well. Haha.”
Thanks to carrying out a 500-billion-won short sale, Changcheng Fund’s rate of return was already running first among the entrusted managers.
“Ah, the money you mentioned has been deposited into Ms. Meilin’s account. Just in case, we dressed it up as an advisory fee and such, so please review it once.”
“Thank you. But don’t worry too much. We only audit strictly when we’ve lost money. If you make good money for us, we treat things loosely.”
“I-Is that so? I heard NPS was quite strict in managing its entrusted managers.”
“Well, do you really think there isn’t a single person among our employees who uses accounts belonging to relatives or acquaintances? No matter how strict we are, we’re a group with the unique flexibility of a financial firm. Don’t worry too much.”
The tension on CEO Ming’s face eased considerably. It seemed it had been weighing on him quite a bit.
“If that’s the case, then that is a relief. But the reason you called me all the way to Seoul today is...?”
“Ah, there’s an issue I wanted to discuss with you directly.”
“Please speak.”
I paused for a moment and looked at his face.
“CEO Ming. How much are Russian bonds going for right now?”
“P-Pardon?”
“Russian bonds. What percentage is the current bond yield?”
“I would have to look into it precisely, but... I understand they’re paying quite a lot because of Western financial sanctions. The last time I checked, it was roughly 20%.”
“Twenty... Twenty. I see.”
“But why do you ask?”
I paused briefly, then finally said something that made him jump.
“Please start gradually accumulating them.”
“P-Pardon?!”
“Not urgently. In stages, 100 million dollars at a time... Cryptocurrency will probably rise a lot soon. Then leave behind a suitable rate of return, and use all the remaining money to purchase bonds.”
“N-No, Team Leader!”
As expected, his reaction was intense.
“Of course, the ruble has recently stabilized, but those 20% bonds are money you won’t get back! Because they’re short on dollars due to financial sanctions, the Russian Ministry of Finance is just issuing bonds like mad.”
“I know.”
“If you know, then of course you mustn’t buy them! Even Chinese investment firms, which are free from Western financial sanctions, aren’t crazy enough to buy Russian bonds. You absolutely won’t get that money back. They’ll declare default like the Soviet Union and tell everyone to sue them if they dare.”
Seeing him jump like that, I felt a little reassured.
CEO Ming was a true investor. Even if it was money from an entrusted manager account, he treated it like his own assets.
“I know well because I’ve been through it. When the Soviet Union went bankrupt, Korea was probably the country that got stiffed the most.”
“If you know that, then why...”
“They gave us Brown Bears instead.”
“P-Pardon?”
“I have no intention of getting paid back in money for those bonds anyway. I can’t explain in detail, but CEO Ming, I need you to help me.”
CEO Ming swallowed hard.
“...Surely you’re already considering reconstruction projects?”
“An investor must always be one step ahead.”
“But the West’s sanctions are extremely severe. We may be relatively free, but NPS, the entrusting institution, won’t be.”
“They’re in no position to talk. Europe has probably already resumed importing natural gas through India. If they make an issue of it, we’ll break through it ourselves.”
CEO Ming sighed.
“It seems you have already made up your mind... Then how much will the investment be?”
“You have the portfolio I gave you, right? From the profits generated there, leave behind a certain portion and use all the rest to purchase bonds.”
“If no profits are generated there...?”
“Then we do as we first agreed. There’s no need to buy Russian bonds, and I, as the person in charge, will take full responsibility for that.”
CEO Ming sank into thought for a while before he finally opened his mouth.
“Now... I think I understand. Why we were selected over all those prominent American fund companies.”
“That’s not necessarily the case. Your portfolio was truly excellent, CEO Ming. It’s just that my greed is far, far too great.”
“Thank you, even if it is only flattery. In any case, I will purchase them as you said.”
CEO Ming, who had been full of excitement after hitting it big with short selling, instantly deflated. The thought of having to spend the money he had earned while taking abuse on buying scraps of paper must have been infuriating.
I said to him,
“CEO Ming. Don’t worry too much. As long as you follow my instructions, you will record the highest rate of return among the pension fund’s entrusted managers. I’ll take responsibility.”