Special Investigation Team, office area.
Mona, Reesi, and Michelle looked at Luo An with puzzled expressions, but Luo An didn’t elaborate. Instead, he took out his phone, walked away from the office area, and started dialing:
"Wan De? Yes, it’s , Luo An Greenwood.
I have so good news for you... No, I’m not lying, why would I lie? It really is good news..."
"Chief Elr? Hello, this is Luo An Greenwood, I have a case here that I think you might be interested in..."
As Luo An stood by the coffee machine making calls, his face was filled with a pleasant smile. Michelle still tilted her head in confusion. Seeing this, Reesi tapped Michelle’s arm and whispered:
"Did you see Luo An’s expression? Be very careful of that expression, it ans Luo An is about to set soone up again."
Michelle was surprised by Reesi’s comnt, and Mona was speechless. As Reesi was about to continue speaking, Luo An finished the call, turned around, and smiled:
"Reesi, Michelle, there are so tasks I need you to do tomorrow."
"What tasks?"
Luo An did not answer imdiately, but his smile grew even brighter.
------------
The 28th hour of Kara’s disappearance.
Pleasanton City, located in the heart of Federation California, about 100 miles south of San Francisco, is an important transportation hub between northern and southern California.
The Mueller Group is located in this city. At 9:30 in the morning, an internal shareholder eting was convened, and a crowd of middle-aged white n in suits took their seats.
At the head of the eting room, a middle-aged white woman with red hair, dressed in a lady’s suit, and having a relatively gentle face, was sitting.
"Jesenia, why call another shareholder eting?"
As everyone just sat down, an elderly white man on the left side of the long table asked coldly:
"The internal situation of the Mueller Group is very poor now. Are you calling this eting because another subsidiary has financial issues?"
The elderly white man didn’t ntion the Mueller Family matters; compared to so-called "connections," they cared more about their interests.
If not for Jesenia’s manipulation through threats and temptations and dividing the shareholders, preventing them from uniting, the elderly white man would have rallied everyone to override Jesenia long ago.
"Today’s shareholder eting has only one agenda item, which is about the Mueller Family’s shares."
In response to the elderly white man’s cold look, Jesenia smiled slightly and explained:
"Everyone knows that our Mueller Family has encountered misfortunes in recent months, resulting in the shares of the Mueller Family not being smoothly inherited. This has caused quite so trouble for the Mueller Group..."
Jesenia explained these matters without showing any discomfort on her face, as if they were unrelated to her. She ignored the varying expressions of the shareholders on both sides of the eting table and continued:
"But fortunately, through my relentless efforts, I have successfully found the fourth generation mber of the Mueller Family, the only one who ets Old Mueller’s will and can inherit everything."
As Jesenia’s words fell, a buzzing sound erupted from the shareholders in the eting room. So doubted the authenticity of the heir she ntioned, while others quickly speculated Jesenia’s true motives.
Without waiting for the shareholders to express their doubts or other opinions, Jesenia smiled and clapped her hands. As her voice ceased, the eting room doors were pulled open from the outside.
All eyes turned towards the eting room door, curious to see what the fourth-generation heir ntioned by Jesenia looked like... then they saw a group of n in suits walking in.
Behind them was a bewildered woman, holding a little girl in her arms who buried her head and dared not speak.
"Good morning, Ms. Jesenia."
At the forefront of a group clad in suits, with her short hair and a face full of vigor, was Reesi, with Michelle standing behind her.
Flashing her golden FBI badge, Reesi, expressionless, stated:
"According to our investigation, Kara was strangely kidnapped by bandits 28 hours ago. May I ask why she is here with you now?"
Looking at the woman who was holding Kara, originally intending to surprise the shareholders, Jesenia took a deep breath, her expression unchanged, calmly explained:
"I was also inford about Kara’s kidnapping.
For Kara’s safety, I went to great lengths to locate the kidnapper, negotiated a deal, and exchanged 5 million US Dollars for Kara’s release."
It’s certain Jesenia voluntarily paying ransom to retrieve soone did not violate any federal laws.
The only issue was that Jesenia did not inform Kara’s parents imdiately.
But this could easily be blad on her staff for the delay, not relating to her personally.
Thus, after hearing Jesenia’s explanation, Reesi didn’t say much. She stepped back, yielding her position, and then a nondescript middle-aged Caucasian man ca forward:
"Hello, I am Chief Elr from IRS-CI, the Senior Investigator of the Special Investigation Team. We need Ms. Jesenia to cooperate with our investigation." (Chapter 193)
The other law enforcent agency Luo An chose to cooperate with was the IRS, specifically the Criminal Investigation Departnt.
Partly because Luo An and Elr had t and contacted before, and also because the Mueller Group, being a large corporation, was under the scrutiny of the IRS Criminal Investigation for such dealings.
When the Mueller Group was stable, it was challenging for IRS Criminal Investigation to investigate them.
But now, with Old Mueller’s death and the Mueller family in disarray, and the internal chaos within the Mueller Group, it was an opportune ti for IRS Criminal Investigation to step in.
IRS Criminal Investigation didn’t care much about the specific details of the case; they were interested in whether big companies evaded taxes.
But for a big company like the Mueller Group, it was almost expected to have "creatively managed" their taxes.
Hearing Elr’s identity, all shareholders present shifted their gaze towards Jesenia as their faces turned pale.
Jesenia’s expression also darkened; she scanned the shareholders around the conference table, quickly thinking who might be the mastermind behind this, and swiftly stood up walking towards Elr, seriously stating:
"I will have my lawyer, financial advisor, and company’s chief financial officer cooperate with your investigation. However, I still have an ongoing shareholders eting to finish, so..."
Jesenia’s plan was to first confirm Kara’s safety, and then secure her own status as Kara’s guardian, ensuring her control over the Mueller Group.
But before Jesenia could finish, a woman who had been keeping her head down suddenly stepped out from behind Michelle, glaring fiercely at Jesenia, coldly stated:
"Jesenia! I am Kara’s mother, Madeline-Allen, and I accuse you of mistreating Kara! I demand a private negotiation with you!"
The sudden appearance of Madeline-Allen startled Jesenia, but with Madeline’s loud disturbance, along with the intense scrutiny of Elr and Reesi, the shareholders eting obviously couldn’t continue. Left with no choice, Jesenia had to announce a temporary halt to the eting and exited the conference room with Elr and others.
Inside the conference room, the shareholders looked at each other, their expressions filled with confusion, speculating who among them orchestrated all these events.
Guilty shareholders briefly discussed, just as they were about to leave, the door of the conference room was suddenly pushed open, a man with a face marked by bruises, beaming with a smile walked in:
"Please don’t rush off. Let introduce myself, I am Kara’s father, John-Rodriguez..."
anwhile, far away, in the interrogation room of the Special Investigation Team, Luo An showed the video monitor to the man in front of him, smiling:
"See, I didn’t deceive you, did I?"
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