We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 89

089

Money Laundering (1)

That seems like something I should discuss with Ahn Seong-cheol.

Knock, knock!

“Come in.”

When I called Lee Seul-gi, she came in right away.

The secretary-general’s office was next to the president’s office.

“Did you call for me?”

“Secretary Lee, please sit down. I called you about labor costs.”

“Labor costs?”

“I have some foreign part-timers.”

“Foreign part-timers… Depending on how you manage them, they can be quite profitable.”

“Right now, I’m paying them 10,000 won per hour, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to offer them a rate lower than the minimum wage.”

“Lower than the minimum wage…? Are you suggesting lowering the part-time wage based on the rule that allows setting the wage 20% lower than the existing wage for the first three months of a probationary period, which is typically used for directly-managed convenience stores?”

“That’s right. Until the company is back on track.”

“The company is back on track? I don’t know how many part-timers you plan to hire, but to say the company will recover with just a few part-timers…”

“700 people.”

“……!”

Lee Seul-gi looked incredulous.

Her face seemed to be asking where 700 part-timers suddenly came from.

She seemed quite shocked.

Convenience store part-timers, also known as ‘Pyeondol’ [a slang term for convenience store part-timers], are mostly contract workers. Frankly, there were many cases where they were just killing time, and countless instances where part-timers were just looking at their phones or responding rudely.

If the part-timers respond kindly, it is true that sales will increase a little more.

“700 people…”

“I think this is the most difficult part of running a convenience store, although I’m not an expert in convenience store operations.”

“That’s true. Store owners are having a hard time hiring decent part-timers. The turnover rate is very high, and they can’t even dream of training them. Above all, most of them are contract workers and are hired mainly from college students, so the quality of service is poor.”

I knew it.

This was something that anyone could know, even if they weren’t a convenience store owner.

Convenience stores were closely related to our daily lives, and many people used them several times a day.

If the distance was the same, people would naturally go to a convenience store with a friendly staff. Ordinary people use convenience stores without much thought, but the head office called this ‘selection’.

“There are many factors that determine whether a convenience store is selected. The quality of the products, various promotions, and convenient facilities are the biggest issues, but it is also true that sales vary depending on the quality of service. We estimate that about 20% of our customers are influenced by the service.”

“20%. That’s a big number.”

“It’s a huge number.”

“You’re saying there’s a 20% difference based on service?”

“To be exact, it’s between 10% and 20%.”

“Hmm.”

Then the need to train the Undead became even more urgent.

A 20% increase in sales was a huge number. The joy and sorrow were different depending on even 1% of sales, and at this level, it could be said that the success or failure of the business was determined.

“Secretary Lee, please book a training center.”

“A training center?”

“If the service is so important, we can’t just ignore it. We need to train them.”

“Will the part-timers even want to be trained?”

“They’re all refugees.”

“Refugees… If you’re not careful, you could get caught up in a significant issue. There are forces that oppose refugees.”

“They don’t look like refugees at all. We can just control the information. The Personal Information Protection Act has been strengthened, so there’s no way to confirm whether they’re foreigners or refugees.”

“They have to be good-looking. Whether they’re male or female, if they look shabby, customers will naturally turn away.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I smiled slightly.

As I reached the 5th Circle [likely a reference to a magic or power level], I was able to reshape the zombies’ faces.

I don’t know if I should even call them zombies anymore. Except for being a little pale, they were indistinguishable from ordinary people.

“If that’s what the CEO wants, I’ll contact the training center director. When will the trainees be admitted?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight…”

“Is there a problem?”

“No. No problem.”

Having received the order, she leaves the office.

I got up and prepared to leave.

Laundering the labor costs of at least 500, and up to 700 people, could be more complicated than I thought.

So, I need to find out how to launder money.

In front of the NK Group headquarters.

I realize that I have become the president of a mid-sized company.

The driver opened the door for me.

“We have arrived, Mr. President.”

“Wait here.”

“Yes.”

Ahn Seong-cheol, the director, was waiting in front of the headquarters.

He approaches with a smiling face.

The knife scar on his face and the cruel impression of the man were quite unnatural when he smiled, but I have become very used to it now.

“Oh, Mr. President. Congratulations. You swallowed CL Retail.”

“To be exact, it’s called an M&A [Mergers & Acquisitions].”

“You’ve grabbed a really strong lifeline. I thought you could develop quickly, but I didn’t know you would become the owner of a listed company so soon.”

“It’s a debt-ridden company.”

“You’re still humble.”

Since we were quite close, we had a brief conversation and then got to the point.

“What brings you here…?”

“I have a favor to ask. To be exact, it’s a request.”

“Your ID will be ready soon. I can give it to you tonight.”

“Um, I came here today because of a different issue, not the ID.”

“A different issue?”

“Do you also handle money laundering?”

Ahn Seong-cheol looked around.

This was not a good place to discuss such a story publicly.

“I’ll take you to the secret room.”

It’s a secret room where all sides are sealed.

Ahn Seong-cheol personally brewed coffee. Money laundering was, of course, illegal, and it was a story that even a secretary should not hear.

“Money laundering? Roughly what scale are you talking about…?”

“Um. The starting point is about 40 billion won per year [approximately $30 million USD].”

“……!”

“And we plan to gradually increase the scale.”

“Heo. Money laundering on a scale of 40 billion won per year…”

“It may increase further in the future.”

Ahn Seong-cheol nodded.

He seemed to feel a strange sense of kinship, and he thought that it overlapped with the NK business because it was illegal for anyone to see, from forged IDs to money laundering.

To be exact, NK aims for complete legality on the surface. He had half a foot in the underworld through backroom deals.

“In fact, there is no way to operate that amount of money without it being in the president’s name.”

“Really?”

I had never done money laundering before, so it was natural that I didn’t know about that world.

Ahn Seong-cheol told me a few ways.

“The most common method used by chaebols [large family-owned conglomerates in South Korea] is to accumulate assets in non-profit foundations.”

“Non-profit foundations?”

“Non-profit foundations are legally difficult to track funds, so they accumulate illegal wealth by acquiring old art, antiques, and other valuable items.”

“That’s just a slush fund.”

“Yes. They use it as a slush fund when needed.”

“I’m going to use it as a business fund.”

“Hmm. The second is unregistered bonds. Unregistered bonds are also impossible to track funds. For this reason, black money is often accumulated in unregistered bonds. You can use unregistered bonds for backroom deals or lobbying funds.”

“That’s a bit reasonable. What else is there?”

“There are real estate, CPs [Commercial Papers], and other bonds, but the most common method is private equity funds.”

“Are you talking about shell companies?”

“Private equity funds and shell companies usually have a close relationship. In the first place, private equity funds themselves are often shady… Heom, I’m sorry. They often want anonymity. If you establish a private equity fund, you can operate the company anonymously.”

“That also means I have to be a mastermind.”

“That’s right.”

Money laundering was, after all, such things.

In Korea, where the real-name financial system is in place, it was difficult to launder money like this. If a large amount of money moves without any problems, the Financial Supervisory Service [South Korea’s financial regulator] will immediately come out to investigate.

“It’s difficult.”

“It’s really difficult to move assets in the president’s name in this day and age. There are ways, but the taxes are no joke. If the tax and fees are about 30%, there is a way.”

“I don’t want to pay that much.”

Tok. Tok. Tok.

I paused for a moment to think.

Is there a way to supply funds stably without being hit with a lot of taxes?

“This is a bit extreme.”

“Is there another way?”

“If you want to attract a lot of funds occasionally, not continuously, there is also treasure ship exploration.”

“Treasure ship exploration?”

“You can forge unregistered gold bars, making it appear as if they were submerged in the sea.”

“Oho.”

That’s a bit tempting.

“I recommend acquiring a company that is engaged in exploration projects. Most of the treasure ship explorations known in this world are related to money laundering.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“The world is wide and black money is overflowing.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

Then I have a way too.

“Actually, my wife has a good claim.”

“A claim?”

I told Ahn Seong-cheol about the Seun Line [likely a sunken treasure ship].

His face brightened considerably.

“Even if the Seun Line sank, the wealth would not be concentrated in one place, would it?”

“It’s likely to be scattered. You just need to prove that it was the Seun Line at that time.”

“For example, a serial number?”

“Yes.”

“I think I can use it about 10 times.”

“I’ll need gold bars.”

“The commission is usually 5%, but… I’ll give you 3%.”

“Good. Rather than being ripped off by 30%.”

“Hehe. It’s a sure way.”

I decided to secretly sign a contract with Ahn Seong-cheol.

The nameless gold in the underworld is melted and newly manufactured. After going through a few processes, the gold could be forged to look as if it had been submerged in the sea for hundreds of years.

In front of NK Group.

I signed a pleasant contract with Ahn Seong-cheol.

Ahn Seong-cheol held out his hand.

“I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“You’re welcome.”

“About this US military base expansion project. Can we at NK also help a little?”

Ahn Seong-cheol handed me a bag.

There was a luxury watch in the shopping bag, but maybe the bribe wasn’t all this.

In principle, NK was affiliated with the S Group [another large conglomerate]. But there shouldn’t be any problems since we started communicating with the H Group again this time, right?

Anyway, all the construction could not be done directly by the H Group.

Should I accept this or not?

“It’s a clean unregistered bond. It’s not much. About 3 billion won… [approximately $2.25 million USD]”

“I’ll plug it in for you.”