Chapter 412: Chapter 229: Whetting the Knife
The words were uttered, and a wave of astonishnt swept over the spectators.
These trial celebrities, how co Fox Film Corporation was suddenly being implicated?
But soon, everyone seed to have a sudden realization, perhaps David’s causing a scene at the Oscars, bringing back all these celebrities, was not really intended as punishnt for them.
Instead, he sought to use these celebrities as a starting point, aiming straight for the giant predators of Hollywood!
In the midst of these thoughts, Nicola spoke up, asking, “Director McCauley, do you have an explanation for this?”
“Your Honor, what Director David is saying is completely baseless, our Director McCauley is utterly unaware of any exaggerated contracts or Yin-Yang Contracts, and such a phenonon certainly does not exist in the movie ‘Independence Day’!”
McCauley did not respond imdiately; it was Eulalia, the lawyer sent by the legal departnt of Fox Film Corporation, who spoke up.
David gave Bucky a look from the gallery, and Bucky imdiately took out a stack of docunts from his briefcase, walked to the front of the court, handed them to him, and he, in turn, raised the stack of papers and said, “Your Honor, I have collected a set of docunts that can prove that the total cost of the movie ‘Independence Day’ was no more than 50 million US dollars, but the final reported amount was 75 million US dollars. Now, where did the extra 25 million US dollars go?”
“Why is there no record of it filed in our country’s tax system, nor any information entered?”
As the words fell, the gallery stirred once again.
If what David said was true, then the extra 25 million US dollars reportedly spent on ‘Independence Day’ was not reported to the national tax system, which would make this a grave matter.
On this side, the court staff presented the docunts from David’s hands, and Nicola started to scrutinize them.
After looking closely for ten minutes, Nicola put the docunts aside, turned her gaze toward the defendant, and said, “According to the docunts submitted by Director David, ‘Independence Day’ indeed accounted for 75 million, but at least 25 million of the funds were not declared for tax purposes, nor were they entered into the tax system. How do you explain this, Director McCauley?”
“Your Honor, may I take a look at these docunts?”
It was Eulalia who asked to see the docunts this ti.
“You may.”
The court staff handed the docunts to Eulalia, who inspected them carefully for about ten minutes, but eventually, he relaxed his expression and said, “Your Honor, these docunts are based on oral reports and procurent information at the ti, and they were obtained in less than a day, it’s not unexpected for them to be inconsistent since so much ti has passed. I’m afraid they cannot be considered conclusive evidence.”
“No matter, Your Honor, I have a witness. Please allow him to testify in court,” David continued.
“Granted!”
From the left side, this ti five people erged; after arriving at the witness stand, one of them, who was slightly older, said, “Your Honor, my na is Glaf, and I was the head of props for ‘Independence Day.’ The props and set decorations for the movie cost about 20 million US dollars.”
“Your Honor, I am a mber of the props departnt for ‘Independence Day,’ and I can confirm this,” another chid in.
“I also confirm.”
“And …”
The five who had co forward gave a unified testimony.
Eulalia, at this point, furrowed his brow.
“Your Honor, I request another set of witnesses be called to the stand.
“Granted.”
David waved his hand, signaling them to step down, and shortly after, another group of witnesses walked out of the passageway.
“Your Honor, my na is Belichick, I was the head of the makeup departnt for the film ‘Independence Day.’ Although 15 years have passed, I rember very clearly — the budget given to our departnt was 5 million US dollars. I still have a copy of the cashier’s detailed statent from that ti, please review it…”
“Your Honor, my na is Thompson, I was a mber of the makeup departnt then, and I too can testify to this — the budget indeed was 5 million,” another stated.
“Your Honor…”
After Belichick finished speaking, the rest of the makeup departnt witnesses also endorsed her statent one by one.
After they were done, David waved his hand again, signaling them to step down.
Then, another group of witnesses took the stand.
In the next forty minutes or so, nearly every departnt of the film including photography, lighting, and special effects, took the stand to testify.
As these people finished their testimonies and submitted so of the retained financial information, McCauley’s face on the defendant’s bench grew increasingly pale, and his body involuntarily began to quiver.
The reason was simple.
By now, each departnt of ‘Independence Day’ had reported their expenditures, and the total combined was just about 50 million, give or take. So where did the remaining 25 million go, and how could this be explained?
The docunts presented before could be dismissed due to being dated and inconsistent, but with so many witnesses now testifying in such detail, surely not everyone could have misrembered, right?
And considering the confird excess of 25 million dollars which lacked any tax declarations, rely this point alone would be damning, not just for him, but it seed likely that even Fox Film Corporation behind him wouldn’t be able to clear its na.
“Defendant McCauley, based on the witness testimonies and these docunts together, the amount of capital reported was indeed only 50 million. What is your explanation for this?”
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