Sending Brother to the Grave (2)
I switched on the microphone and deliberately lowered my voice as I surveyed the entire conference hall before delivering my opening remarks.
"Before we discuss the previously scheduled agenda, I must urgently propose a new item. Please examine the documents that Chief Han Seung-woo has just distributed."
The moment I finished speaking, dozens of people in the hall simultaneously opened the files. Their eyes widened as they flipped through the pages one by one. It was hardly surprising. What they were reading was the printed copy of the ledger I had received from Director Jung Ju-seong—the record of transactions with Kwon Je-gyun, President of QS FnB.
Kwon Je-gyun slammed the documents shut and glared at me before shouting.
"Hey! What the hell are you trying to pull?"
Trading blows with a mad dog was pointless. I calmly addressed the microphone and proposed the new agenda.
"We will discuss the motion to dismiss Kwon Je-gyun, President of QS FnB, as the very first item on today's meeting."
Even after hearing the motion for his own dismissal, Kwon Je-gyun did not stop glaring at me. Instead, he even let out a mocking laugh.
"Dismissal? To remove an officer of a stock corporation, you need to go through a shareholders' meeting. Don't you know that? I heard you were a lawyer—did you skip studying the Commercial Act?"
So that was the source of his confidence? I understood exactly what he was saying, and his words were not entirely wrong. Under the Commercial Act, the dismissal of a corporate officer indeed requires a resolution from the shareholders' meeting. Nevertheless, the reason the head of the Central Management Headquarters of the QS Group holds personnel authority over subsidiary executives is as follows.
When the head of the Central Management Headquarters exercises personnel authority through the Presidents' Council, it is regarded as the will of QS Co., Ltd. Since QS Co., Ltd. maintains a vertical shareholding structure over all its subsidiaries, no subsidiary can prevail against the Central Management Headquarters even if the matter reaches a shareholders' meeting. That is why dismissed executives typically submit their resignations without going through such complicated procedures. After all, they still hope to secure some scraps from the QS Group or at least avoid retaliation when starting their own companies or enjoying retirement.
Yet Kwon Je-gyun had just invoked the Commercial Act to challenge the dismissal motion I, as head of the Central Management Headquarters, had placed before the Presidents' Council. It was no different from refusing to acknowledge my authority in that position.
QS FnB is an unlisted stock corporation whose shares are 100% owned by QS Food. Kwon Je-gyun wields considerable influence over QS Food. Therefore, to dismiss him through proper procedure, shareholders' meetings of both QS Food and QS FnB would be required. Kwon Je-gyun was betting that he could at least win at the QS Food shareholders' meeting.
So he wanted to fight me with the law? After he himself had just acknowledged that I was a former lawyer?
I had no intention of engaging in the long, tedious legal battle he desired. Today, Kwon Je-gyun would meet his end right here in this conference room. His bold yet immature thinking could be crushed with ease.
"It is not the Commercial Act. It is the Criminal Act."
At my brief statement, the atmosphere in the conference hall froze. The weight of the Criminal Act I had just invoked was clearly different from the Commercial Act with which the assembled presidents were more familiar. The Commercial Act exists to facilitate commercial transactions, and even its penal provisions usually end with fines. Those fines are typically imposed on the company rather than the individual, so entanglement with the Commercial Act rarely ruins a person's life. The Criminal Act, however, exists precisely to separate those who belong in prison from those who do not. Once branded as someone who must be isolated from society under the Criminal Act, a person's life is truly over.
Moreover, the Criminal Act has another crucial characteristic. Unlike the Commercial Act that Kwon Je-gyun had arrogantly cited, in this vast conference hall, only one person was truly familiar with the Criminal Act—me.
* * *
"......"
Kwon Je-gyun, who had been about to retort, opened and closed his mouth before falling silent. After all, he would need some knowledge of the Criminal Act to speak. Kwon Seong-gyun, seated beside him, looked as though he wanted to shield his brother, yet he kept his head lowered, lost in thought.
Now that everyone seemed to have taken the bait I had thrown, it was time to reel in the line. I needed to explain why this was a matter of the Criminal Act rather than the Commercial Act.
"You have likely grasped most of the documents just distributed. President Kwon Je-gyun of QS FnB misappropriated company funds by claiming an executive's performance as his own. This constitutes the crime of occupational embezzlement under the Criminal Act."
With each word I spoke, Kwon Je-gyun's face grew increasingly ashen. When I finished, Kwon Seong-gyun, who had been staring at the desk, met my eyes and muttered in a low voice while covering his microphone with his hand.
"That's enough, Ho-gyun. This is not a courtroom."
Despite the intimidating tone he tried to project, his expression was that of a water buffalo whose neck had been bitten by a lion—filled with terror. I was not the one who had first invoked the law and demanded we settle matters legally by questioning who was ignorant of the Commercial Act. Kwon Je-gyun had declared the battlefield himself, so I had no reason to back down simply because Kwon Seong-gyun said so.
I deliberately brought my mouth closer to the microphone and announced the words Kwon Seong-gyun had intended for no one else to hear.
"I heard you clearly, President Kwon Seong-gyun. You said this is not a courtroom. Yes, because this is not a courtroom, I am clarifying the legal nature of the illegal matters that have arisen within the group and sharing them with the presidents for their valuable opinions. I am not finished yet. May I continue?"
At my final question, Kwon Seong-gyun, meeting my gaze, felt the helplessness of being unable to do anything and lowered his head once more.
"......Do as you wish, Headquarters Chief."
"As shown in the evidence, President Kwon Je-gyun's embezzlement has been confirmed in one case with solid proof. However, there are multiple indications that he diverted performance bonuses from other executives in various subsidiaries using similar methods. Furthermore, by granting occupational privileges to the executives who cooperated in the process, the crime of breach of trust is also established in addition to embezzlement."
"Hey!!"
Unable to endure any longer, Kwon Je-gyun finally shouted into the microphone.
"As the moderator, I must ask President Kwon Je-gyun to remain seated and speak calmly."
"Fine. Do whatever you want."
Thud—. Rattle—.
Unable to contain his rage, Kwon Je-gyun kicked over the chair he had been sitting in moments earlier and stormed out of the conference hall.
"I intended to give President Kwon Je-gyun an opportunity to explain himself in order to protect his right to defense, but it is unfortunate. Based on what I have already stated, I hereby formally propose the motion to dismiss Kwon Je-gyun from his position as President of QS FnB and recommend his resignation from all other subsidiary presidencies. Regarding future criminal proceedings, I suggest we decide after observing how President Kwon Je-gyun accepts the outcome of this Presidents' Council meeting."
Roll, roll, roll—.
In the silent conference hall, the sound of the presidents' eyes shifting echoed. The presidents who had stood in Kwon Je-gyun's line looked as though their lifeline had been severed; they stared at the ceiling with half-resigned, vacant expressions. With Kwon Je-gyun's downfall, my power had also been proven, so those aligned with Kwon Seong-gyun were equally restless. Several who had maintained a neutral stance pressed their brows or rubbed their temples, as if the profit-and-loss calculation was beyond mental arithmetic. Then, one by one, glances began to be cast toward me.
Since I had caused the commotion, they expected me to either proceed or clean it up. At that moment, someone seated at the very back raised a hand. It was President Choi Sang-seok of QS Resort.
"I have a question for the Headquarters Chief."
"Please speak freely."
"President Kwon Je-gyun currently holds quite a few presidential positions, does he not? I understand there are more than ten. If we recommend his resignation from all of them as a result of today's meeting and he accepts, what will happen to those vacant positions? Will you, Headquarters Chief Kwon Ho-gyun, be taking them over?"
All eyes turned to the far end of the conference hall, a seat that usually drew little attention. Some looked as though they could not believe he had asked such a question at this timing with so little tact. Others, however, sent Choi Sang-seok faint smiles of gratitude for voicing the question they had been dying to ask but could not.
The reason the presidents could not calculate the profit and loss was because they did not know where the fourteen vacant presidential seats would go. Among them, Kwon Seong-gyun's reaction was the most amusing. A look of bewilderment had appeared on the face of the dying water buffalo. It was understandable. President Choi Sang-seok was publicly known to be in my camp ever since I had saved him from prison when I began practicing law. Yet that same Choi Sang-seok had just made a statement that seemed to check me, at a moment when no one else dared to speak.
On the surface, the most beneficial move for me would be to oust Kwon Je-gyun and occupy the vacant presidential seats myself. However, if I chose that path, it would have to be done in complete secrecy. Openly devouring everything my brother had possessed after driving him out would invite criticism and give the opposition a legitimate reason to attack me. With dozens of eyes fixed on me, asking that question outright was equivalent to forcing me to deny it.
While I delayed my answer, staring at Choi Sang-seok, an overeager man tried to assert his presence.
"Of course, of course. Even if only temporarily, since Headquarters Chief Kwon Ho-gyun is leading the entire group, he should naturally take the subsidiary presidential positions as well."
It was President Baek Seung-guk of QS Movies, whose main business was operating cinema chains nationwide. QS Movies was essentially a satellite company under QS EnM, where Kwon Je-gyun's influence was strong, so everyone in the room knew he belonged to Kwon Je-gyun's faction. Yet the moment his lifeline was cut, he had already decided to switch sides in that short span of time.
"President Baek Seung-guk?"
"Yes, Headquarters Chief."
"Are you trying to assassinate me?"
"Pardon? Yes. Yes?? No, absolutely not. That cannot be."
Just as the atmosphere in the hall relaxed enough for a few people to chuckle at the brief comedic exchange, I deliberately looked at President Choi Sang-seok and smiled brightly.
In truth, President Choi Sang-seok had not asked that question to betray me. He had done so because I had instructed him to.