The Primus Scandal (2)

Executive Director Yang Jeong-uk looked momentarily speechless. He probably hadn’t expected to have his own words thrown back in his face.

Standing nearby, Senior Dongho quickly bowed his head.

"I’m sorry, Executive Director! This is all my fault for failing to train him properly. Please forgive us just this once."

Then, as if scolding me on purpose, he snapped, "What do you think you’re doing? Apologize to the Executive Director right now!"

"I only apologize when I’ve actually done something wrong."

"Hey, Han Miru! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It’s fine, Senior."

Department Head Yoon Yeong-cheol and the rest of the staff looked at me as if I’d lost my mind, and Yang Jeong-uk ground out, "The experts all say there’s no problem at all. On what grounds are you claiming there’s bad debt in the Primus Fund?"

I looked at him and said, "When an authoritarian leader’s decision is questioned, that doubt is often treated as an attack on the leader’s authority. Only the people who don’t question anything are willing to speak; the ones who do question stay quiet. In the end, the doubt disappears, and only optimistic projections remain. That’s why no one even dared suggest an audit, even though the rot was spreading like a snowball."

I hadn’t made that argument up myself. A reporter later wrote it in an article analyzing the Primus scandal.

And as a result, more than 300 billion won vanished.

At the time, the shock was so severe that dozens of companies who had invested in Primus wrote off all of that quarter’s investments at once, dragging down the stock index itself.

"Even the meat at a supermarket gets checked for quality before it’s put on display. You expect me to believe you sold a fund worth hundreds of billions of won without once checking the assets behind it?"

"Can you take responsibility for what you’re saying? What if there’s nothing wrong at all?"

"Then I’ll take responsibility and hand in my resignation."

Yang Jeong-uk’s anger was no longer concealed. "You spread false information to deliberately trigger a fund run, and you think you can just get away with resigning?"

"False information?"

He was furious at what I’d exposed, but the one who should have been angry was me.

I had written the fund recommendation report without understanding a thing, and in doing so I had become a participant in this fraud.

As for me, that was bad enough. But Senior Dongho had inhaled toxic gas, developed a lung disease, and had to carry the aftereffects for the rest of his life, and even then he never received proper compensation.

Even now, if I closed my eyes, I could still see it.

Investors who had lost everything. Employees who died in the fire, and their bereaved families. The workers who lost their jobs overnight.

And yet he had taken no responsibility at all.

I shouted at him, "If I’m right, then how are you going to take responsibility?"

Everyone around us was stunned by my behavior.

A rookie shouting at an executive director!

When you work in finance, it’s easy to become numb to numbers. But every one of those numbers is money that means life or death to someone.

Because of that one incident, countless families were torn apart, and more than twenty people took their own lives.

A murderer with a knife kills one or two people and it’s over. A fraudster can kill far more than that.

That was exactly why financial crime was so terrifying.

After a moment, Yang Jeong-uk regained his composure and glared at me. "What? You? Have you lost your mind, you bastard?"

Just because he was an executive director and the chairman’s son didn’t mean I had any reason to take abuse from him.

"I’m not crazy. And watch your language."

"What?"

"I have a DA Securities account."

"So?"

"If I leave the company, that makes me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a DA Securities customer. What kind of executive director talks to a valued customer like that, calling him a bastard and every other name?"

……

Yang Jeong-uk’s eyes went wide, and Manager Yoon Yeong-cheol’s mouth fell open. The rest of the staff looked just as stunned.

"I see. Words won’t work on you."

"And if they don’t?"

"Our legal team will sue you for damages, and we’ll file criminal charges for spreading false information and obstructing business. I’ll make sure you regret this when everything is over."

I gave a short laugh. "Go ahead. Do whatever you want."

"And after this, you think you’ll still be able to set foot anywhere in Yeouido?"

Rumors in this industry spread faster than light. In finance, where people lived and died by information, that was even more true.

Before I even left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the company, what had happened here would already have spread across all of Yeouido.

Who would hire a rookie who had exposed damaging information about the company and gone head-to-head with the son of the chairman of the DA Financial Group?

I could probably forget about ever getting another job in finance.

No, not just finance. Other industries would be difficult too.

"I wasn’t planning on getting hired anywhere else anyway, but if someone heard you talk, they’d think Yeouido belonged to you."

"You little bastard—"

Annoyed, I snapped back, "Fuck, why do you keep calling me a bastard?"

"What? Fuck?"

Yang Jeong-uk seemed to snap. He lunged forward and grabbed me by the collar.

I was about to do the same when a man suddenly rushed in.

"E-executive Director! It’s bad, sir!"

Yang Jeong-uk barked irritably, "Assistant Manager Park! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?"

"I’m sorry. But I thought you needed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know right away—"

"Know what?"

"Articles are still being posted right now, and the situation is not normal. The Financial Supervisory Service and the prosecutors are also moving to investigate."

"……What?"

The hand gripping my collar loosened of its own accord.

I pulled out my smartphone and checked the news.

There had already been an article after I uploaded the report, but then DA Securities moved quickly to pull it down and requested a correction along with an official explanation, and things seemed to be settling into the shape of a simple misunderstanding.

If that had been the end of it, the whole thing might have passed as nothing more than a brief fiasco. But then follow-up articles suddenly began pouring in, pouring gasoline on a fire that was already dying down.

The stories weren’t just raising suspicions.

They also focused heavily on the relationship between Primus and Executive Director Yang Jeong-uk, amplifying the argument that he was personally responsible.

Everyone was thrown into confusion as the articles kept appearing in real time. Now that the investigative authorities were involved, this was no longer something they could just bury.

Yang Jeong-uk glared at me with eyes that looked ready to kill. "Is this your doing too?"

I shrugged. "Me? What power would a lowly employee like me have to move the Financial Supervisory Service and the prosecutors?"

But if it were Vice Chairman Yang Ja-eun, that would be a different story.

"And what’s there to worry about? If you just release the AAA bonds held by the Primus Fund, there shouldn’t be any problem. By the way, can you still get in touch with CEO Park Tae-il?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I’m saying he might already be packing his bags and running."

By now, he must have realized there was no way to stop this.

In the first timeline, when signs of an investigation first emerged, they pulled the remaining money out of the fund and fled overseas. What would he do this time?

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

I clicked my tongue.

Surprisingly, Yang Jeong-uk still trusted CEO Park Tae-il completely. No wonder he hadn’t seen this coming until it exploded in his face.

Assistant Manager Park glanced at Yang Jeong-uk and spoke cautiously. "The truth is, CEO Park Tae-il hasn’t been reachable since earlier."

At that, Yang Jeong-uk shouted, "He was just on the phone with me a minute ago!"

"Ah, yes. But when I called again to ask about the situation, his phone was turned off. I called the company, and they said he’d left in a hurry. The employees don’t know where he is either—"

Senior Dongho, who had been checking the articles, shouted as if he were doing a live broadcast. "Hey! They’re saying CEO Park Tae-il grabbed the money and ran!"

"What? W-what? Is that true?"

In place of Yang Jeong-uk, who was too stunned to think, Manager Woo Baek-hyeon said, "Turn on the TV. Right now."

The Research Department existed to gather information, so of course there was a large television installed there. Once someone switched it on, a report about the Primus Fund began to play.

A reporter standing in front of a mixed-use residential building in Gangnam said, "This is where the CEO of Primus Asset Management lives. According to the building’s security guard, about an hour ago CEO Park Tae-il hurried out with three suitcases, loaded them into a car, and left for an unknown destination. His phone is currently switched off, and—"

The CCTV footage shown in the news even captured CEO Park Tae-il frantically scooping up bundles of cash that had spilled from the suitcase.

Everyone stared silently at the broadcast, unable to say a word.

I was reminded of the time when the Primus scandal first broke.

Back then, I had seen the news and worn the same kind of expression. I had thought the media was spreading false reports and that the truth would come out any minute.

In the long silence that followed, Senior Dongho finally spoke.

"Um... if CEO Park Tae-il really ran off like that, doesn’t that mean Miru was right?"

Department Head Yoon Yeong-cheol stammered, "T-then you should have reported it much earlier."

I turned to the department head. "You remember yelling at me not to stir things up when I submitted the report, don’t you?"

"N-no. That was because it was an absurd story—"

"And now that absurd story has actually happened."

"……"

Yang Jeong-uk still looked as if he couldn’t believe it.

I met his eyes squarely and said, "You should have looked into it properly before selling it, Yang Jeong-uk."

Before, he had borne no responsibility for any of his mistakes.

But this time was different.

He wouldn’t be able to escape by saying he hadn’t known. At his level, not knowing was a sin in itself.

The true nature of Primus Asset Management, hidden so thoroughly for years, was brought to light when an employee at DA Securities blew the whistle.

Once the circumstantial evidence piled up and the authorities announced they were launching an investigation, CEO Park Tae-il disappeared.

Fortunately, the prosecutors immediately imposed a travel ban on Park Tae-il and everyone connected to him.

Unaware of that fact, Park Tae-il appeared at Incheon Airport hauling a mountain of suitcases, only to be caught by police who had been lying in wait.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office carried out a search and seizure operation at Primus Asset Management, and the Financial Supervisory Service began a full due diligence review of the fund together with investors and creditors.

The results were shocking.