Southern Las Vegas, Henderson County, outside the entrance of an abandoned mining company.
Hearing the words of this man from the IRS, both Luo An and Winslow’s faces were filled with speechlessness.
The IRS, the Federal Tax Bureau, no matter how one looks at it, appears quite peculiar.
On one hand, the people at the IRS believe that their duty is solely to "collect taxes," and that other matters like murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and explosions have nothing to do with them.
On the other hand, given the relatively wholeso customs within the federal territory, for every drug trafficking or criminal organization taken down, another springs up, an endless battle.
Under such circumstances, instead of going to enormous lengths to eradicate these criminal organizations each ti they fail to pay taxes, it’s more efficient to establish so "illicit tax categories" so that the offenders co to the IRS to pay taxes voluntarily.
The IRS also promises not to inquire into the specific criminal activities of the offenders, nor to hand over any evidential proof of their cris to other federal law enforcent agencies.
In this way, a tacit understanding was successfully maintained between the IRS and various criminal organizations within federal territory:
The IRS easily collects taxes from illicit earnings while the criminal organizations make the money they need to expand and strengthen, securing a bright future for all.
For bank robbery cases where the amount is between 50 and 800 thousand US dollars, the IRS usually won’t go to great lengths to investigate. Instead, they wait for the robbers to be caught and then go after them for taxes.
But if the amount exceeds 800 thousand dollars, and the robbers don’t volunteer to pay their taxes, the situation changes. The IRS will definitely step in to investigate, identify the culprits, and reclaim the federal taxes from their earnings.
IRS: I don’t care how you made your money, but it must include my share!
After a few seconds of silence, a glint of light flashed in Luo An’s eyes as he took out his phone and waved it in front of the middle-aged Caucasian man from the IRS:
"May I make a call to my superior?"
"Please do."
The middle-aged Caucasian smiled and nodded, aware of Luo An’s identity and understanding that the transfer of the case would require Luo An to consult his supervisor. He gestured for Luo An to proceed as he wished, then he and the two IRS agents stepped aside to wait.
"Thank you."
Luo An chuckled and called the group leader, Potante Byrne.
"Good evening, sir, it’s , Luo An."
"Good evening, what’s up?"
"I have led the Special Investigation Team to crack the bank robbery case."
Luo An briefly recounted the events of the bank robbery, including the roles of three wanted criminals and a renegade CIA agent.
"The case is solved?!"
Hearing Luo An’s account, Potante Byrne’s face was filled with surprise; he had already held the efficiency of Luo An and the Special Investigation Team a few notches above other units, but Luo An always managed to amaze him.
Thinking this, Potante Byrne once again felt a pang of jealousy, wondering why Vireness, that woman, was so fortunate to have t such a talented individual like Luo An before he did.
As Luo An went on to ntion the IRS’s arrival, prepared to take over the case, the shock and smile on Potante Byrne’s face faded away slowly. Suppressing the surging emotions within, he pondered for a while before saying:
"Luo An, agree to their terms."
After speaking, Potante Byrne, worried that Luo An might feel negatively about the case being taken away at a critical mont, cleared his throat and softly assured him:
"The IRS deals only with tax collection; they won’t steal the credit from your Special Investigation Team."
"Alright, sir."
Luo An nodded in agreent, indicating his compliance with his superior’s orders, then after discussing a few matters about the follow-up work on the case with Potante Byrne, he hung up the phone.
In a distant office, Potante Byrne hung up the phone, pondered for a mont, first picked up the desk phone to briefly communicate with soone from the Federal Tax Bureau, and then used his personal phone to call Director Nasim, barely concealing the smile on his face, and said:
"Good evening, Director, I have so good news..."
anwhile, after Luo An hung up the phone, he felt not only unbothered but sowhat happy about Potante Byrne’s decision to transfer the case to the Federal Tax Bureau.
The reason was simple. Just now, Luo An had learned the identities of the four still-living bank robbers and their addresses inside the mine.
These people were not living together; in order to hide their tracks, the four of them were hiding in four different states.
According to Luo An’s original plan, he would need to contact law enforcent agencies in all four states to organize a joint operation, to capture the four simultaneously at the sa ti, to prevent anyone from noticing sothing amiss and escaping or fleeing beforehand.
This kind of work was ti-consuming, labor-intensive, and often resulted in owing favors, so Luo An was more than happy now that the Federal Tax Bureau was willing to take over the case.
As for the possibility that the Federal Tax Bureau might fail to act and accidentally allow the four robbers to flee, Luo An was not worried and did not think such a thing would happen.
After all, the Federal Tax Bureau was the leader among all the federal law enforcent agencies; at their behest, hardly any agency dared to slack off or shirk their duties.
Putting away his phone, Luo An walked up to the middle-aged Caucasian man from the Federal Tax Bureau, extended his hand with a beaming smile, and shook hands with him:
"So then, I’ll leave this case in your capable hands."
After briefly discussing with Luo An and learning that he had solved the case and identified the identities of the six bank robbers, as well as the current addresses and identities of the remaining four, the Caucasian man from the Federal Tax Bureau and the two agents behind him were taken aback.
The Caucasian man from the Federal Tax Bureau naturally saw through Luo An’s intention of using them to catch the criminals, but he did not care too much. While interstate apprehensions were troubleso work in so law enforcent agencies’ eyes, it was nothing extraordinary for the Federal Tax Bureau.
Moreover, Luo An had already found out the identities of the robbers, obviating the need for the Federal Tax Bureau to continue with laborious investigations, saving them a lot of work and ti.
A flash of admiration appeared in the Caucasian man’s eyes, he reached out and shook hands with Luo An, expressing his appreciation:
"I have long heard that the Special Investigation Team led by Group Leader Luo An Greenwood is the most outstanding among the ten special investigation teams, and now it seems that the reputation is indeed well-deserved."
"You flatter ."
Luo An’s smile grew even sunnier, he took the opportunity to return a few complints to the Federal Tax Bureau, and the middle-aged Caucasian man laughed heartily, filling the scene with a lively atmosphere.
The work for the Special Investigation Team thereafter was relatively simple; SWAT mbers escorted the unconscious Pollard brothers and the forr CIA operative Cockerland to the hospital for treatnt.
Special Investigation Team mbers Chenier, Mona, and Michelle went to the hospital to guard the three, while Luo An and Winslow, after a busy half the night, found a hotel to rest properly for the night before going to the hospital the next day to check on their condition.
The Pollard brothers were still unconscious due to excessive blood loss, while Cockerland had woken up. Upon seeing Luo An, he wanted to curse but was unable to speak due to the bandage secured over his mouth, could only glare at Luo An with furious eyes.
Luo An didn’t care about his gaze at all, confird that he was still alive, then walked out of the hospital room and took out his phone to make calls.
The first call was to the police departnt in a certain city in Ohio, who were responsible for the fugitive Pollard brothers and Francisco, the case of torturing to death the bank robber Modlin.
Upon learning that the FBI’s Special Investigation Team had solved the case and apprehended the criminals, the police departnt in that certain city in Ohio briefly praised Luo An, then took the initiative to hang up the call.
Luo An let out a chuckle and didn’t mind the subtle dissatisfaction in their tone. After all, they had worked hard to investigate for many days only to co up empty-handed in the end, so it was normal to have so complaints.
Putting Ohio’s matter aside, Luo An then asked Mona to check the information previously described by Cockerland, to simply investigate his situation, and then he took out his phone to call the CIA.
"Hello, I am Group Leader Luo An Greenwood, from the FBI Special Investigation Team."
At an unoccupied stairwell in the hospital, Luo An looked out at the scenery outside the window, the corners of his mouth slightly raised:
"We caught a guy yesterday who goes by the alias Cockerland, with the real na Chad Evans, he says he’s one of your people."
As Luo An’s words fell, the other end of the phone went deathly silent.
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