Darkstone Code
Chapter 132 - 0131 Not Pocketing the Lost Wealth

Chapter 132: 0131 Not Pocketing the Lost Wealth

"You want those trucks?"

A bit later, Ferrari arrived at the court with a cigarette in his mouth. He seemed quite tired; it was rare to see him smoke before.

Smoking can leave a noticeable odor, which in some situations is considered impolite. Most people try to avoid that, especially someone like Ferrari, who is an important aide to the mayor.

Their outward appearances often represent the mayor’s image, and they are often entrusted with important tasks. Behaviors seen as ordinary hobbies by most cannot be indulged by them.

But at this moment, he couldn’t care less. A deep puff softened his expression a bit.

He flicked his cigarette ash and glanced at Lynch, "Those trucks aren’t worth much, but they carry a heavy burden."

"With thirty-three trucks and forty-nine trailers, you need to provide at least sixty jobs, and these jobs can’t be canceled during your term."

He flicked his cigarette ash again. Taking things worth several times or even dozens of times for a bargain price isn’t possible without contributing something.

The Henghui Group’s assets in Sabin City are being divided, and those who take a slice of the pie must also bear the responsibility of these resources. They have to offer at least a few hundred jobs to society, and at most thousands.

Moreover, these positions will only increase and never decrease.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Even if they always had a cooperative relationship with the mayor, they can’t obtain such great wealth for nothing.

Ferrari’s point was simple: it’s not hard to acquire these things, but maintaining them isn’t easy. Sixty jobs related to truck drivers, with minimum monthly wages of three hundred each, would require eighteen thousand just for salaries.

Although those trucks seem not very valuable, the jobs they create would extract over two hundred thousand in salaries from Lynch annually.

These wages could support at least sixty families, affecting between one hundred and twenty to one hundred eighty families.

A year, two years, as long as the mayor doesn’t leave, Lynch can’t reduce these jobs. If the economy doesn’t improve, or if his operations encounter issues, these things will become burdens.

The same goes for other major companies. After swallowing these assets, some may be unable to bear the burden and choose bankruptcy, but everyone is desperately taking in as much as they can, betting that the economy will improve before they go bust.

Lynch also lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs, "I have my ways, you don’t need to worry."

Ferrari looked at Lynch seriously, making sure he wasn’t lying, then concluded he wasn’t recklessly making trouble out of jealousy over others’ sudden wealth.

He pulled Lynch aside, and they moved through a few small doors to the office behind the court. As the mayor’s frequent personal attendant, Ferrari carried considerable authority locally.

After explaining the situation, the courtroom didn’t trouble him. They accepted his statement, and eventually, an agreement was reached with Lynch at an already rock-bottom price, after another reduction.

The reasoning was simple. After the auction failed, the court deemed the valuation too high and re-evaluated it. See, once adjusted, it got sold quickly.

As for improving the "offline" operation, it was simple enough. Simply include this auction information as a "phone auction" during the next judicial sale, and no one could find a reason to say it’s inappropriate.

After paying less than fifty thousand in auction fees, Lynch received the keys and ownership certificates for those trucks. Seeing those little booklets brought back some vague memories for Lynch.

After chatting casually with Ferrari for a bit longer, Ferrari hurriedly left. He seemed quite fulfilled... or so it seems!

Those little booklets in Lynch’s possession soon appeared on Jogriman’s desk. The latter couldn’t help but both smile and shake his head looking at them.

He examined each one carefully, missing none. He had an accurate judgment of their authenticity, a skill gained from years of work experience.

With exposure to various proofs, receipts, titles, and letters of responsibility, he gradually developed discernment for these documents.

Especially with real estate and automobile titles, he could make a rough judgment the moment his fingers touched the pages.

"Thirty-three of them..." Jogriman looked at Lynch, "and forty-nine trailers!"

Resting his arms on the armrests of his chair, he couldn’t help but sigh, "This isn’t a counter, Lynch. You can’t keep coming to me for money!"

Lynch’s purpose was unsurprising, wanting to fully liquidate these assets, and this time the amount wasn’t small. Thirty-three vehicles, when estimated at thirty-five thousand each, the truck collateral is over a million.

Adding the forty-nine trailers, it totaled around one million six hundred thousand.

Lynch wasn’t concerned with Jogriman’s implicit message. He just smiled, "Aren’t we friends?"

Jogriman recalled the thank-you letter Lynch sent, thinking how this responsible young man had made him prominently successful in the system this year; some even suggested bypassing the branch’s process and letting him take over as the director in Sabin City, leaving him unable to refuse Lynch.

"It’s too risky!" he muttered, "You’ve taken a lot of money from me. If something goes wrong..."

The Gaitenau Financial Company entrusted assets to Dyson Asset Management Company for full management, which was then used to secure large cash loans from the bank, creating a continuous cycle involving about four million in funds.

Besides, Lynch’s own collateral with the bank was nearly three hundred thousand, collateralizing all his assets to the bank. Out of friendship, Jogriman offered the maximum valuation.

If these assets were added, his dealings with Lynch, both directly and indirectly, would soon reach almost six million.

Any error in any segment could turn the six million into nothing. He felt some pressure, realizing Lynch’s ambition was much larger than he imagined.

However, Lynch interrupted him, "These trucks will be entrusted to Dyson, so you don’t need to worry."

Jogriman raised an eyebrow, slightly furrowed his brow, and his mind quickly turned. He stood up, closed the door, and tightened the blinds before returning to his desk.

After setting everything up, he sat back down, "You’re not planning to repay the money?"

He had a reason for asking. Originally, he thought these assets were personally collateralized by Lynch, which was hard to handle. As personal collaterals in such large amounts, even with his current status, ensuring this would draw comments.

Some who were at odds with him might even report him.

It’s akin to a corporation valued at a billion taking a ten-million loan. The bank wouldn’t overly scrutinize the transaction regardless of its purpose.

However, a personal loan of ten million could induce negative thoughts and emotions, leading to stricter supervision of the loan’s utilization, and possibly investigations by branches or headquarters.

That was a dilemma, as price "errors" occasionally made in valuation could be seen as normal mistakes, but repeatedly doing so would be neglect of duty.

Initially, he thought Lynch was collateralizing personally, but now he realized that wasn’t the plan.

If Dyson Asset Management Company was responsible, the assets could be counted towards Dyson’s market value. After proper investigation, the bank would approve the loan, as a viable Dyson with millions in assets backed the operation.

Yet Jogriman felt this wasn’t simple. Both he and Lynch knew Dyson was an empty shell, not even having one employee so far. If this company suddenly declared bankruptcy, approximately six million in funds would become bad debt.

However, Jogriman wouldn’t be blamed for such bad debt, as the risk was unquantifiable and virtually irresistible even if identified.

Lately, the banking system had been circulating that Henghui’s investigation leading to bankruptcy resulted in bad debts of thirty-seven million across the top six banks. However, nothing was stirred up, and there was no insistence on recovering the losses.

Executives involved weren’t punished, which was normal. Sometimes banks knowingly engaged in projects with perceived issues, still diving in without hesitation.

It wasn’t due to incompetence within the six major banks but because they had their calculations. Sometimes seeming losses actually resulted in gains, with countless strategic maneuvers.

In Jogriman’s eyes, Lynch was a young man with ideas, boldness, and a willingness to take risks, so he first thought Lynch didn’t plan to repay the money, intending for Dyson to go through bankruptcy protection, allowing Lynch to legally pocket millions.

Lynch shook his head, "No, I don’t have a habit of not returning what’s owed. This just makes things easier for you, and I don’t care for such an amount. I’m only short of some funds now."

With this one hundred fifty thousand plus incoming, combined with the club’s land, Lynch could soon gather around four million in cash, enough to establish his business layout in Sabin City and statewide.

He was indeed being truthful, as he didn’t care for this money, and even if he’d planned to acquire some, this wasn’t the time or place.

If he were to strike, he’d go big!

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