Of Course!
The atmosphere inside the Taeshin Mulsan conference room grew even heavier after Tae Geon-seung’s explanation.
And his words did not stop there.
“Even a rough estimate puts it at one trillion won! Does that sound like some dog’s name to you? Did it just fall from the sky? Isn’t that roughly the company’s annual labor cost? And as I mentioned earlier, do you even know where the money funneled through those paper companies actually went?”
Tae Geon-seung’s gaze swept across several executives before settling on Tae Seok-hyun and Tae Seok-ho.
The moment their eyes met, Tae Seok-ho instinctively realized something had gone terribly wrong. The subsidiaries from which he had siphoned funds were not limited to Taeshin SpinTech.
Of course, it wasn’t the entire amount that had been mentioned, but a portion of it bore his fingerprints. Unbeknownst to him, other channels had been under investigation all this time.
Once again, the room fell into silence. No one had dreamed that Chairman Tae Geon-seung and the TF headquarters would have dug this deep.
“Worried about the employees? Restructuring? If any of you have a mouth, why don’t you speak up like before?! And while you’re at it, show the employees these details and ask them! Ask whether a company should turn a blind eye and keep people like this on the payroll!”
The mood grew increasingly hostile.
At the same time, no one dared open their mouths. Everyone was too busy protecting their own necks.
Left with no choice, Tae Seok-ho, who had been quietly reading the room, finally stepped forward.
“Chairman, I believe the core issue here is that there is insufficient evidence to support disciplinary action against the recently deceased employees. If their wrongdoing had been clear, such an incident would never have occurred, don’t you think?”
Several people nodded, as if those were exactly the words they had wanted to say.
Watching them, Kang In-hyuk unconsciously shook his head.
“Does the head of the M&A/PEF Division have something to add?”
Tae Geon-seung, having noticed In-hyuk’s reaction from the center seat, spoke up.
In-hyuk let out a small sigh and turned on the microphone in front of him.
“Who said that? Who claimed there is insufficient evidence of corporate regulation violations and criminal activity by those employees?”
Naturally, the one to answer was Tae Seok-ho.
Of course, since Reina Blackwood had handled the matter, he had made sure the related investigation was airtight.
“The disciplinary reasons and measures confirmed during the personnel overhaul for the two individuals were dismissal for rebate acceptance and embezzlement, respectively. Looking specifically at the Taeshin Energy case, the actions were carried out by a team member under the direct subordinate in question. However, an internal audit conducted shortly afterward confirmed funds deposited into that employee’s account. The employee was immediately dismissed as disciplinary action.”
He was referring to the employee who had committed suicide in the underground parking lot of Taeshin Energy.
“Then was the money that the dismissed employee supposedly pocketed recovered?”
“No. When we reviewed the records later, it turned out the employee had already laundered the funds overseas and siphoned them out. The employee was subsequently imprisoned.”
“To be precise, he hanged himself in prison not long after, didn’t he?”
The mouths of those who hadn’t known that fact began moving busily again.
Tae Geon-seung tapped the microphone with his hand.
Thud— Thud—
The heavy sound rang out, and the conference room fell silent once more.
In the meantime, Tae Seok-ho looked at In-hyuk with a calm expression. Naturally, he had known the person he mentioned had committed suicide. He also knew that even if the case were reopened, there would be no further way to uncover anything.
That was precisely why Reina had chosen the superior—the department head who had actually received the rebates—as the target.
“Is the head of the M&A/PEF Division interpreting this as an injustice?”
“No. It wouldn’t be injustice. It would be resentment. The department head who ate together with him slipped away cleanly, while he alone took all the blame.”
“We wouldn’t know. The parties involved are no longer with us, are they? In the end, the TF headquarters pushed Taeshin Group employees toward death using nothing but unclear circumstantial evidence.”
At that, In-hyuk’s gaze grew even colder.
“Who said there is no evidence?”
“The police at the time reported that they could not find evidence that the late department head Go Min-seok had received rebates. The same conclusion came from both Taeshin Energy and the headquarters audit division.”
“They didn’t fail to find it. They simply didn’t look, didn’t they?”
At the time, the person in charge of the audit division had been Division Head Han Ki-seok, whom In-hyuk had by the throat. It was obvious that some kind of deal with someone higher up had led to the investigation being concluded that way.
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. Has the TF headquarters been conducting investigations in such a forced manner all this time?”
“What I’m referring to is the evidence left behind by Manager Lee Min-jun, who committed suicide in prison—not Department Head Go Min-seok. It surfaced after the personnel overhaul was shared, so I hadn’t been able to present it until now. It seems it will be useful here.”
In-hyuk pulled a USB drive from his pocket and held it up. Song Tae-ho, Tae Geon-seung’s secretary, approached, took it, and connected it to the conference room screen.
Moments later, the screen changed to display account records of a familiar company transferring funds to a specific entity.
In-hyuk continued speaking.
“As you can see, the company that transferred the funds is a subcontractor contracted with Taeshin Energy. The account holder is a paper company.”
“If it came from Manager Lee Min-jun, doesn’t that make it even clearer?”
“It would, if Manager Lee Min-jun were the owner of the paper company. However, the funds transferred from that paper company were withdrawn once more through another paper company in Oklahoma, passed through a money laundering organization, and a portion was then deposited to a specific individual residing in Korea.”
As the increasingly serious explanation continued, the room grew quiet.
Song Tae-ho flipped to the next slide, and In-hyuk began the most crucial part.
“It was the father of Department Head Go Min-seok’s wife. For your information, the money laundering organization I just mentioned was recently uncovered by the prosecution and is currently under investigation. This data was obtained with their cooperation. Oh, and of course I handed it over to the prosecution yesterday as well. By now, the wife and her father are likely being investigated together.”
Currently, Go Min-seok’s wife had been appearing on various media outlets, shedding tears and giving interviews, claiming her husband had been driven to suicide unjustly.
Because the TF headquarters’ personnel overhaul had a superficially unfair feel to it, public opinion had sympathized with her tears.
But if the evidence In-hyuk had just presented became known, it was obvious where the arrows currently aimed at Taeshin Group and the TF headquarters would turn.
Amid the continuing silence, In-hyuk looked at Tae Seok-ho and kept speaking.
“Honestly, looking at this evidence and the situation, it’s hard to find a reason for Department Head Go Min-seok to have committed suicide. One might even wonder—could it not have been suicide? Don’t you agree, Executive Director Tae Seok-ho?”
The fist hidden inside the palm resting on the desk clenched tightly.
Tae Seok-ho glanced back at Reina, who was seated behind him, before speaking. The problem had arisen from matters before she had taken action.
“It seems I was greatly mistaken. However…”
“Ah, and the same applies to the embezzlement case at Taeshin Heavy Industries. He operated a company under an acquaintance’s name overseas and inflated supply prices for several years to pocket kickbacks. The funds were withdrawn by bypassing overseas accounts, which will be investigated by the prosecution, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the National Tax Service for violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and tax evasion.”
Everyone lost their words.
The situation they had believed to be a perfect checkmate for In-hyuk had been completely overturned. At this rate, capturing In-hyuk would clearly be impossible.
As more time passed, the silence broke and murmurs began to spread.
But no one stepped forward easily. They couldn’t gauge what kind of story might shift the flow.
At that moment, Tae Seok-hyun—the representative director of Taeshin Electronics and Kang In-hyuk’s father-in-law—who had remained silent, finally spoke.
“Setting aside the personnel overhaul situation, there is something I would like to ask the head of the M&A/PEF Division separately. I heard that a portion of the shares in Taeshin Asset Management previously held by Taeshin Life will be purchased using operating funds. Is that true?”
Even In-hyuk was slightly surprised by the topic.
He had assumed Chairman Tae Geon-seung would have managed the matter with absolute discretion, yet the information had slipped from none other than Tae Seok-hyun’s mouth.
At the same time, one thought immediately came to mind.
‘Did someone deliberately leak information to Tae Seok-hyun?’
Most of the forces he currently relied on belonged to Tae Geon-seung. Naturally, the information he received was also limited to what Tae Geon-seung permitted.
Since the share information regarding Taeshin Asset Management had been led by Tae Geon-seung, it was information that should not have reached him.
His gaze naturally turned toward Tae Geon-seung. He had wanted to read the atmosphere to see if the chairman would intervene directly, but the old man met his eyes with a surprisingly calm expression.
‘I handed over the share purchase contract, so handle it yourself?’
Another sigh nearly escaped him when he felt a gaze from right beside him.
Tae Ju-ha was staring directly at him. She had known nothing about the transaction between In-hyuk and Tae Geon-seung.
“It is true. We plan to conclude a contract to purchase twenty-five percent of Taeshin Asset Management’s shares using the profits generated by the MP Division.”
The reason no one had known was because the share purchase contract had not yet been finalized. Since no disclosure had been made, it was difficult to know unless one was directly involved.
“Considering the current unlisted share price of Taeshin Asset Management, it should easily reach two hundred billion won. Are you saying the MP Division can cover that amount? Even if it can, two hundred billion won is no small sum. Wouldn’t it be better for the group to use those funds for operations instead? Don’t you agree?”
Tae Seok-hyun asked as if seeking agreement from those around him. As soon as they heard the amount, people naturally nodded their heads.
Throughout all this, Tae Geon-seung remained silent, simply watching.
In-hyuk felt a spark of irritation inside and opened his mouth.
“It seems we’re having the same argument as last time. In the end, the point is that you’re unhappy with Taeshin Asset Management using its surplus funds for independence rather than for the group, correct?”
“Rather than calling it dissatisfaction, as the head of the TF headquarters, don’t you understand the group’s current situation better than anyone? Including the approximately one trillion won in losses caused by the subjects of the overhaul that the chairman mentioned earlier. As someone from Taeshin, I believe it is only natural to devote ourselves to covering such losses.”
“Then, Representative Director Tae Seok-hyun, are you saying that if Taeshin Electronics had such surplus funds, you would use them for the group?”
Tae Seok-hyun, who had been quickly reading the room, answered immediately.
“Of course!”
At that moment, In-hyuk spoke as if he had been waiting for exactly those words.
“That’s fortunate. As far as I know, a considerable amount of funds has been poured into Taeshin Next, one of Taeshin Electronics’ subsidiaries. I understand that in some sectors, the full three-year budget has already been allocated and paid out. When combined, the total scale comes to roughly three hundred billion won.”
For an instant, Tae Seok-hyun’s expression hardened like stone.
In-hyuk’s words did not stop there.
“Of course, I am well aware that Taeshin Next’s investment is for future technology development. However, when the immediate situation is so uncertain, is it really necessary to allocate three years’ worth in advance? I will forgo the share purchase and redirect the two hundred billion won into the group’s loss recovery fund. Why don’t you join me, Representative Director?”
The eyes of the others turned toward Tae Seok-hyun. They were waiting for his answer.
But Tae Seok-hyun only hardened his expression further and bit his lip.
“Th-that is funding for the development of AI technology options and components to be upgraded in next year’s new products. Since research is not something that ends in a year or two, the funds were paid in advance. Touching that would be the same as tampering with Taeshin Electronics’ future.”
It was not an entirely unconvincing explanation. If it were true, that is.
In-hyuk had known about Taeshin Next’s problems even before re-auditing through the TF headquarters. He knew that Tae Seok-hyun had been moving internal funds around to cover losses incurred at Taeshin Electronics…
In the original future, Tae Seok-ho had used that very fact to seize control of Tae Seok-hyun’s Taeshin Electronics. And of course, the one who had made that possible was In-hyuk himself.
“There is no immediate problem, is there? On the contrary, making such a large initial budget execution could invite tax issues. It may also cause difficulties in fund management within Taeshin Electronics. Instead, why don’t you withdraw it now and use it for the group? If any problems arise, we will provide support in the form of investment from the profits we generate.”
He had nailed down every possible escape route with various reasons.
The objections raised during the meeting to trap In-hyuk began to be overturned in this way. All because Taeshin Asset Management—a mere subsidiary of Taeshin Life—had come to possess tremendous financial power.
Silence fell once again.
Then Tae Geon-seung twitched his wrinkled lips and turned on the microphone.
“We will discuss the group’s loss recovery funds later. Since the situation seems to have been roughly settled, let us proceed with the vote on the personnel overhaul.”
The executives shot looks at Tae Seok-hyun and Tae Seok-ho with expressions as if they had swallowed something bitter.
If the personnel overhaul proceeded, not only their subordinates but they themselves would find it difficult to keep their positions.
Of course, that would be the same as destroying the very purpose of those who had intended to serve the next chairman of Taeshin Group.