Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 458 - 454: Pump and Dump, the Prosecution Closes In Step by Step

Chapter 458: Chapter 454: Pump and Dump, the Prosecution Closes In Step by Step

Zhou Er, Court Day.

"This court now announces, the case where the Procuratorate Headquarters and the Financial Bureau are suing the defendant Zhan Qingze for a financial fraud of 20 billion is now beginning its first formal hearing!"

As Old Chen on the judges’ bench declared, the trial began.

On the defense bench, Zhang Wei sat calmly, with the defendant Zhan Qingze on his right and his assistant-cum-bodyguard Xia Qianyue on his left.

On the opposite prosecutor’s bench sat the lead prosecutor Zhao Chunming and the secondary prosecutor-cum-assistant Tan Yingying.

The most critical was the witness bench; aside from a group from the Procuratorate Headquarters, there was also a group from the Financial Bureau, and even team leader Chen Weitian was seated among the prosecutor’s witnesses.

Of course, what Zhang Wei focused on was not these two groups, but Qian Moli, who had staged an act on Lisa’s Talk show just yesterday.

Today, she had arrived at the courtroom with her secretary and indeed, just as she had said, she intended to observe the entire court hearing.

"As expected, she came?"

To Zhang Wei, Qian Moli’s presence was not surprising; it would have been problematic if she hadn’t shown up.

The woman’s presence could garner influence for the prosecution and a few tears from her in the witness bench could also draw the sympathy of the jury.

On the contrary, for Zhang Wei’s side, without any strong support on the witness bench, the influence on the jury was limited.

"Prosecution, you may begin your opening statement!"

"Yes, Judge Chen!"

Zhao Chunming stood up and then announced, "The prosecution calls Leader Chen from the Financial Bureau Investigation Department to testify in court!"

The first witness was none other than Chen Weitian; Zhao Chunming was playing hardball right from the start, without giving Zhang Wei any chance.

Chen Weitian walked into the courtroom and sat in the witness stand.

"Hello, Leader Chen!"

"Hello, prosecutor!"

The two nodded to each other as a greeting.

Zhao Chunming began to ask questions.

"Leader Chen, please tell the court what exactly Zhan Qingze did that managed to swallow up an entire 20 billion of investors’ funds?"

Chen Weitian had anticipated this question and, after a brief pause, said, "This is actually just a sort of ’pig-butchering scam’."

"Pig-butchering scam?"

"Yes, a pig-butchering scam. It’s our industry term. In plain language, it’s a fake financial investment project. The trick is simply ’pump and dump’!"

"Pump and dump?" Zhao Chunming asked with a puzzled face.

Chen Weitian organized his language and explained:

"The pump and dump scheme is the most commonly used by financial fraudsters. It’s not difficult to understand. Defendant Zhan Qingze would find or fabricate one or several stocks, then have the project team’s brokers, or establish investment companies in the names of friends and relatives, and buy up large amounts of these few stocks."

"Then, he releases positive news in the market, creating the illusion of high-level support in this industry, while colluding with brokers to deceive investors into purchasing similar stocks en masse."

As Chen Weitian spoke, he smiled and said, "I believe you all must have received many investment company calls on normal days, such as Mr. XX, we have high-quality stocks that are guaranteed to make money, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many members of the jury nodded their heads, and numerous people in the audience showed expressions of agreement.

They had received too many such calls.

Claims of guaranteed profits, high-quality stocks bound to hit the price ceiling, financial products where ten thousand could turn into a hundred thousand or even a million—these were the sort of annoying calls they received almost daily.

In truth, everyone had one question: if such money-making opportunities existed, why tell others? Why not just buy them yourself?

That’s just the way the world works; the things that truly make money are never shared with others.

If you beg someone else to make money, there’s only one goal: you’re after my principal!

"After receiving the nuisance calls, what happens next?" Zhao Chunming quickly followed up and inquired.

"Then, the investors are enticed by the stocks mentioned by the brokers on the phone, and many will go search for related news. At that point, the positive news previously released by the defendant takes effect."

"Generally speaking, anyone with a bit of investment savvy who knows how to gauge market trends would fall for this. After seeing so much positive news, they can’t help but want to buy into that stock."

"As the stock is purchased in large quantities, its price continues to rise. At this point, everyone is happy because as the stock goes up, they’ve all made money."

Chen Weitian continued, his face reflecting a smile.

But it was clear to everyone that there was a hint of mockery in that smile.

Zhao Chunming also smiled, asking, "Everyone’s made money, isn’t that a good thing? So why do losses occur?"

"Because those stocks are actually fake!"

Hearing Chen Weitian’s words, Zhao Chunming immediately signaled to Tan Yingying.

She sighed and opened her laptop computer.

The projection screen was linked, displaying a group of photos.

An abandoned factory, some rudimentary facilities, and rusty, discolored machinery equipment.

"Everyone, please take a look at these photos. This is the stock that defendant Zhan Qingze fabricated. He claimed it was an environmental stock, that this enterprise was an environmentally-friendly company vigorously supported by Dragon Country. According to him, the company had maritime garbage recycling technology, urban waste recycling and reuse technology, and even technology to convert garbage into new energy sources. Do you think such a company possesses these technologies?"

Everyone shook their heads; the company in the photos was merely an abandoned dump. Such a company claimed to recycle and reuse waste, whereas it was trash itself.

"As you can see, this is the company associated with the stock Zhan Qingze fabricated. He poured all of the investors’ money into this stock, and it would be a miracle if this company could turn a profit!"

Chen Weitian said this and then, sneering at the defense’s bench, added, "Zhan Qingze’s purpose is very simple; he just wanted to fleece the investors, also known in our industry as ’harvesting leeks’!"

"Investors purchased this stock in large quantities. The mass acquisition naturally drove up the stock price, creating the illusion of an unstoppable upward trend. But as you can also see, the company itself is a sham and holds no investment value."

"And when the stock price reached a peak, Zhan Qingze, along with the brokers, began to operate, uniformly dumping the stocks they held. This step is called ’cashing out at high positions’."

"Once the overvalued stocks were massively cashed out, causing fluctuations and impacts on the stock price, the brokers and Zhan Qingze had already cashed out and left, catching the investors by surprise."

"By the time investors realized what was happening, the stock had already plummeted due to the massive sell-off, and a stock that hits its limit down can’t find buyers. Investors could only watch helplessly as their stock hit the limit down as soon as the market opened each day, eventually getting completely stuck."

"At that point, if the fraudulent stock or company’s problems continue to emerge, then the stock is completely devoid of any upward momentum. At that time, investors can neither sell the stock nor expect it to rise, only to have it rot in their hands!"

Upon hearing this explanation, Zhao Chunming couldn’t help exclaiming loudly, "This is really..."

"The final step, commonly referred to as ’exploding the thunder’, is something common in financial fraud. Even this last step, the explosion of thunder, might be deliberately released by the defendant, just to completely crush the investors’ hopes and ensure they never get their money back!"

While saying this, Chen Weitian looked at Zhan Qingze with a cold sneer.

"Objection, inflammatory speech, unsubstantiated accusations, hearsay evidence!"

Zhang Wei quickly stood up, interrupting Chen Weitian’s speech.

"Objection overruled!"

But Old Chen gave Zhang Wei an unexpected response.

Even the court clerk, Li Qinghua, was taken aback for a moment. What’s with Old Chen, even with such a well-founded objection, it’s overruled?

But Old Chen immediately gave Li Qinghua a look.

"Oh, he’s showing his stance to Old Wang and Old Li!"

Li Qinghua understood, Old Chen still had reservations. However, whether the objection was upheld or not didn’t really matter much at this point.

The entire audience, including the jury, looked at the defense with slightly hostile eyes.

After Chen Weitian’s remarks, everyone understood "Zhan Qingze’s scheme."

With just a mouthful of words and some fake news, swindling investors into believing they could make money, and then conning them out of every penny, ultimately leaving them with a bunch of junk stocks to perpetually cause heartache!

Too toxic!

Utterly malicious!

Is this even humanly possible?

The courtroom atmosphere had completely turned in favor of the prosecution.

"Thank you, Leader Chen, for your statement. We have no further questions at this time!"

Zhao Chunming also ended his questioning at this point, and as he walked down from the witness stand, he gave Zhang Wei a mocking look.

You see the situation now, don’t you, lad? You must be out of strategies, right?

Zhang Wei stood up and approached the witness stand.

"Hello, Leader Chen."

"Hello, Lawyer Zhang."

Facing Zhang Wei, Chen Weitian didn’t show much hostility but neither did he show any friendliness.

"Leader Chen, your team at the Financial Bureau Investigation Department has been following this case for quite some time, haven’t they?"

"Correct, we have been investigating for over a month!"

"Over a month, eh? So you’ve been pursuing just this case the whole month?"

"With a 20 billion capital loss, should the Financial Bureau ignore it or be distracted by other minor cases?"

"Indeed, 20 billion in funds is a bit much."

Zhang Wei also couldn’t help but nod.

But then, pointing at Zhan Qingze on the defense bench, he asked, "Since you’ve been investigating for a month, you must be clear whether it was my client Zhan Qingze who released the favorable market news about environmental stocks?"

"That’s not the case; it was some financial news media in Dongfang Capital."

"Then did you ask these media outlets who submitted the articles to them?"

"We did. Many were financial professionals, including some financial experts and professors, a number of self-media writers, and some others..."

Chen Weitian named quite a few people who came out.

"So, according to your investigation, how many of these people have social connections with my client, Zhan Qingze, or how many of them intersect with my client?"

"Based on our investigation, none!" Chen Weitian coolly replied.

"There you have it," said the defense attorney. "You claimed my client created favorable news, but when has he ever done such a thing without his own knowledge?"

As these words were spoken, many people showed expressions of doubt.

On the prosecution’s side, Zhao Chunming sneered and made a note in his notebook.

"Another point, my client, although he is employed by Dongxing Securities and took over a project department two weeks ago, Leader Chen, could you tell me, when did this financial fraud project begin?"

"According to our investigation, this project has been running for over six months; news was spread at the beginning of the year!"

"This means, when my client took over the project, it was already in the late stages, when the insiders were ready to cash out and leave?"

"That, I am not sure about!"

Seeing Chen Weitian shake his head, Zhang Wei laughed and said, "Leader Chen, since my client is a suspect, please take some time to understand his employment history."

"My client entered the continuously running project for the last week or two, and after joining, he focused almost all his attention on his engagement, hardly focusing on the company’s project, not to mention being completely unaware of the so-called fraud project."

"Don’t you think that Dongxing Securities deliberately chose my client to be their fall guy for this project?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Moli, seated in the front row of the audience, couldn’t help it and almost stood up to object.

But someone beat her to it.

"Objection, the previous statement is the subjective conjecture of the defense attorney!" Zhao Chunming from the prosecution side showed a face of coldness.

"Objection sustained!"

Old Chen also nodded and gave Zhang Wei a warning look.

Zhang Wei ignored Old Chen and looked back at the witness stand.

"Leader Chen, may I ask if you are married?"

"What?"

Chen Weitian was stunned; what kind of question was that?

"Objection, irrelevant to the case!"

"Cough, cough, Judge Chen, I’m asking because it is indeed related to the case, please give me two minutes!"

Seeing Zhang Wei explain, Old Chen felt he had been somewhat unfair to Zhang Wei and so nodded his head.

"Alright, objection overruled!"

Zhao Chunming could only sit down reluctantly.

"Leader Chen, are you married?"

"Yes, married."

"Oh, you are married. I’m truly surprised that a woman would fall for someone like you..."

"Hm!"

Seeing that Chen Weitian was about to lose his temper, Zhang Wei quickly stopped teasing.

"Cough, cough, let’s return to the matter at hand. Leader Chen, when you got married, how long were you busy with the wedding banquet or the engagement ceremony?"

"About a month. During that time, I had no inclination to even go to work. Every day I was distracted in the office, just wishing I could leave work sooner."

"Yes, an engagement ceremony, a wedding, these are major life events. What comparison can there be between work and a wedding?"

Zhang Wei nodded in agreement, then gestured to the defense bench, "So, by the same logic, isn’t it perfectly normal for my client to be so busy with his engagement ceremony for two weeks that he even loses basic work judgment?"

"This..."

Chen Weitian was at a loss for words.

"Objection, the defense attorney is engaging in subjective conjecture!"

"Judge Chen, my question is a logical inference based on Leader Chen’s response, not subjective conjecture!"

Old Chen hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.

"Objection overruled; this court considers the defense’s inference to be well-founded and justified."

Zhang Wei nodded at Old Chen, then smiled at Chen Weitian.

"Leader Chen, please imagine, if you were my client Zhan Qingze, you are about to engage in two weeks, and suddenly you get transferred to a new department, your boss asks you to sign a document, tells you there’s no issue, it’s just work handover, and gives you a new project. Would you really have the mind to carefully study every line, every clause?"

"This..." Chen Weitian hesitated.

"Leader Chen, you’ve taken an oath. If you can’t answer, I could subpoena your wife to the stand to help you with your answer!"

"Ah, this..."

Chen Weitian had never expected Zhang Wei to actually summon his wife.

He quickly looked towards the prosecution bench, his eyes seeking an answer from Zhao Chunming.

Old Zhao gave a slight nod and his eyes cautioned Chen Weitian to just answer the question.

"This kid in front of you, not to mention summoning your wife, if necessary, he would even summon the opposing prosecutor to the stand."

"Well... I might just take a cursory look!"

Chen Weitian hesitated for a moment, but still answered truthfully.

"A cursory look, is that right?"

Seeing that Chen Weitian was telling the truth, Zhang Wei was very satisfied.

"So, according to Leader Chen, is it fair to say that my client, in the two weeks after entering the new department, actually had no way to focus on work and couldn’t possibly understand the new project details?"

"This... It’s possible..."

"My client’s new project is a fraud project, yet both you and I believe he has no understanding of it. So, Leader Chen, isn’t it a bit too much for you to lay all the blame for the project’s failure on him after it exploded?"

"This..."

"Objection!"

Zhao Chunming once again stood up and objected.

"Judge Chen, I retract my last statement and end my questioning!"

Before Judge Chen could declare the objection valid, Zhang Wei had anticipated this and already concluded his questioning.

He didn’t give Judge Chen a chance, but his objective had been achieved nonetheless.

Judge Chen helplessly only gave Zhang Wei another warning look, but both knew it didn’t mean much anymore.

Because of Zhang Wei’s performance, there was a subtle shift in the courtroom’s atmosphere.

For instance, due to Chen Weitian’s response, many people began to feel Zhan Qingze’s innocence.

In those two weeks, he was busy with his engagement ceremony; how could he possibly have had the time to manage project affairs?

Could it be that this financial fraud project really had nothing to do with him?

The jury and many in the audience began to entertain similar thoughts.

This change in sentiment also made Zhao Chunming and Chen Weitian feel a bit uneasy.

In the audience, Qian Moli also looked at Zhang Wei with a fierce expression.

"Worthy of the title ’Homicide Lawyer’, just a few questions can turn the tide. If I had only prepared this little, I really wouldn’t be able to take you down!"

But soon, a cold and vicious smile crept across her lips again.

Because the evidence she provided to the prosecution was far more extensive.

"Prosecution?"

"Judge Chen, we would like to continue summoning witnesses!"

Zhao Chunming also stood up at that moment and announced the summoning of the next witness.

A balding man with black-rimmed glasses, who looked every bit the literary type, walked to the stand.

"Hello, witness, please introduce yourself."

"My last name is Tao. I am a contributor to our city’s Economic Weekly and also a self-media operator."

"Hello, Mr. Tao, are you acquainted with the defendant, Zhan Qingze?"

"I am!" The man glanced at the defendant’s bench, then nodded.

On the defense bench, Zhang Wei leaned in close to Zhan Qingze.

"Do you recognize this old guy?"

"He looks familiar, but I don’t remember him, you know?"

"Is that so? By the looks of it, he seems prepared to play his ace against you!"

Zhang Wei gazed at the two on the stand, his face showing a hint of gloom.

"Mr. Tao, please tell us, have you recently made a transaction with Zhan Qingze?"

"Yes, he gave me 20,000 yuan to publish a post favorable to environmental stocks, and later, he gave me another 30,000 yuan to publish a technical post about resource recycling!"

As the man answered, a look of astonishment appeared on the defendant Zhan Qingze’s face in the defense bench.

When did I give you money, and why don’t I know about it?