$1.86 billion. Jack hadn't expected Justine to embezzle all of it without authorization.
Perhaps this had something to do with her lack of understanding of money. For over thirty years of her life, Justine had locked herself in a small room, communicating only with a computer and an internet connection.
Chris had earned a considerable sum as an "accountant," and the sum added up to a small "goal," in US dollars, of course.
Aside from the gold bars and paintings, Justine managed most of the laundered funds.
But to her, the money was just numbers, and the process of managing it was more like a math game: buying bonds based on yields, analyzing profits and losses, and investing in stocks.
After Jack's treatment, Justine gradually recovered from the negative effects of Asperger's syndrome, but her talent for numbers remained.
From the beginning of Shangri-La's development to the present, Justine had been responsible for managing all accounts, but the existence of funds in the pool had never concerned her.
"Isn't that what we've always done? Kill the bad guys and take their money." Justin blinked innocently, not understanding why these "brothers" of hers were so nervous.
"But we only took the money we were sure of." Jack tried to explain to her the risks involved in such a huge sum of money.
Chris on the side also had a worried look on his face, but Braxton, the audacious and heartless guy, was grinning foolishly.
He had never been able to help much with the running of the company. In his spare time when managing the farm, he would drive Chris and protect his brother. Jack had previously wanted him to help run the security company but was rejected. He only cared about his wife and children.
Unlike Justin, he had a concept of money, but not numbers. To him, embezzling tens of millions or embezzling billions was the same, with little difference.
"But you said before that the FBI wasn't particularly interested in the money, and South Korea wasn't aware of it. North Korea was focused on covering up the scandal."
Justin counted on his fingers, analyzing each item one by one. "I cleaned up Michael Joe's online traces and burned his computer's hard drive through an overload. After you destroyed the electronic key, the secret account was theoretically 'dead'."
Excluding
Braxton, who had no idea about the matter, Jack, Chris, and Justin spent the entire night discussing the matter, analyzing it from various angles.
Ultimately, they concluded that the secret account seemed quite secure.
The FBI's investigation into both the imprisoned former head of international affairs, Jon Michaels, and the overseas accounts under the names of Zhang Mingjun had largely concluded.
Furthermore, none of these overseas accounts were connected to the current secret account holding $1.86 billion, with no record of direct or indirect funds flowing into or out of it.
This was because Michael Joe had opened a secret account under the name of an investment fund registered in the British Jersey Islands.
When the chaebol's youngest son died in an accident, and rumors of his illicit dealings with the north surfaced, his father suffered a stroke and became paralyzed.
Michael Joe's older siblings are now scrambling to distance themselves from their youngest brother while fiercely battling for the chaebol's inheritance.
As for the country north of the peninsula, someone might be interested in the funds, but there's no way to find them.
Everyone who might have had access to the secret account, including key figures and their confidants, was killed, and the electronic key was blasted open by Jack in front of Lin Zheling.
The final discussion centered on how to safely handle the funds. The three men, who deliberated until dawn, ultimately decided to route the money through a small island called "Macau" and on to the University of Tokyo.
It's foreseeable that trade between the United States and the University of Tokyo will increase by approximately 0.5% over the next five to ten years.
After agreeing to keep this matter between the four of them and repeatedly warning Justin and Chris not to touch the Dongda Securities Market, Jack finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to New York as if nothing had happened.
Having lived two lives, he never imagined he'd find himself troubled by the problem of too much money.
While Jack was busy in Korea, the wanted criminal team was also busy. Even Hannah, who had previously been hiding in her apartment playing games under the pretext of recuperating, traveled to Canada.
Information had been leaked about the mysterious assassin organization assisting Jang Myeong-jun's subordinates in the prisoner rescue operation. Undercover agents discovered a castle estate in Canada, believed to be the organization's base.
Jubal contacted the FBI's own special forces, the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), and prepared to completely root out the killer organization known as "Damocles."
Surprisingly, they arrived too late. A single strongman cleared the estate, killing everyone inside and out, leaving only the 80-year-old receptionist standing.
"This assassin organization has a retirement policy. All assassins can apply for retirement at age 50. Prior to this, a portion of their commissions goes toward the company's retirement fund.
Upon reaching 50, an assassin can withdraw half of this retirement fund in a lump sum and continue to receive dividends at an annualized rate of return of 6% until their death. Upon their death, the entire principal will be returned."
Jubal explained his understanding to Jack while enjoying a delicious bowl of oxtail braised in red wine.
Jack added a spoonful of sautéed shepherd's purse and mushrooms and commented, "Are assassin organizations so strict these days? They even have a retirement benefits system?"
"Technically, it's a company, nominally involved in the import and export of industrial products," Jubal corrected briefly.
"So, because our FBI and the IRS previously froze a number of accounts related to terrorism, this assassin organization not only lost $50 million in fees but also an additional $20 million.
This has brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy, and the boss has no choice but to take advantage of the assassins' retirement funds." Jack felt like he was listening to some far-fetched fantasy.
"It's a killer who's about to retire." Jubal's expression was also strange. "There's a note in their retirement terms that if a killer dies on duty or in an accident before turning 50, the company will become the beneficiary of the retirement fund."
He stretched out his palm and gestured with the number five. "The boss planned to kill five killers who were about to retire in the next one or two years and obtain their total retirement funds of 29 million US dollars to make up for the losses.
But the plan encountered setbacks with the last killer named 'Black Caesar.'"
"Black Caesar?" Jack said he had never heard of him, but the nickname sounded very impressive.
"That's him."
Jubal placed a photo in front of Jack, and seeing him startled, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. "Do you know him?"
"No, at first I thought he was some famous French chef I know." Jack quickly shook his head in denial. This old man looked like Hannibal. Anyone who knew him would be unlucky.
"We found a lot of canned food that Canadians love in his safe house in Quebec. Cooking is probably not his forte."
Jubal shrugged nonchalantly. "But this guy is really amazing. He took out a team of six elite assassins by himself, only injuring one eye. Then he stormed into that castle and killed everyone, chopping off the company owner's head."
"Are you going to continue tracking him down?" Jack didn't know the details, but considering that this face didn't seem to have played any good guys in his past life, he felt it was best to stop him.
"The information has been turned over to the Canadian police. Damocles is finished, and the rest is no longer under the FBI's jurisdiction."
Jubal sucked on the oxtail bone with relish, occasionally taking a sip of the sweet-scented glutinous rice wine. He had a lot of the energy of the retired old man Jack had met in his previous life, the kind who could spend an entire evening with a plate of peanuts and two taels of wine.
Of course, he had long since given up drinking, and the only alcoholic beverage he would tolerate now was Jack's homemade sweet glutinous rice wine extract.
The key point was that this guy was only in his early forties, far from retirement. Unwilling to see the "old man" left alone in the future, Jack casually changed the subject, "Isn't it time for you to find a girlfriend? Why have you been staying for dinner every day after work?"
Jubal nearly choked on a mouthful of fermented glutinous rice wine and glared at the ungrateful person. "I have my own nightlife. I'm just staying with you out of pity lately."
The fact that someone had secretly brought a beautiful female flight attendant of unknown origin to Seoul had finally been revealed. Although he had legitimate reasons and had successfully completed the mission, Hannah and Jiejie, in a rare show of solidarity, had turned him down. Three,
four, five, or six days a week, Jack would take the initiative to invite everyone to dinner after work, cooking a ton of delicious food.
Hannah and Jiejie were always the ones who stayed, followed by Jubal, the only single person among the group. Aubrey loved to eat, but he often went out on dates with Alice.
Clay, on the other hand, stayed the least, as he had to go home to be with his wife and children. Of course, this was relative.
On days when the Most Wanted Squad wasn't on a mission, Clay's wife, Stella, would usually take the ferry from Staten Island to Long Island in the afternoon with their two-year-old son, returning home together in the evening.
However, things had changed recently. Since returning from Canada, Hannah and Jiejie had been leaving their jobs punctually every day, either going out for a stroll or attending an opera or art exhibition.
Jiejie, who also had a small office in the Federal Building and was in charge of the team's external relations, had simply excused herself to stay in Manhattan for the past two days.
Anyone could see that something was amiss between the three of them, but Jack, a virtual winner with a life of many beauties, was happy to see him suffer occasional setbacks as a minor spice of life.
Therefore, today, only the good-natured Jubal was willing to stay with him, chatting about his experiences in Canada.
Of course, as a bachelor, besides spending time with his two daughters every weekend, he did have plenty of free time in the evenings.
The next morning, Jiejie, who hadn't been seen for several days, finally showed up. She hurried into the office, but her serious expression made it clear she wasn't there to "reconcile" with Jack.
"An hour ago, a massacre occurred at an internet company called 'Senalock' in Charlottesville. Including the company's president, eight people were killed.
Five were shot, and three were stabbed."
Jiejie's face flushed slightly, not from seeing Jack, but from jogging in her high heels.
"An hour ago? The murderer has been identified so quickly?" Jubal was surprised.
"Not yet, but NCIS assigned us the case, and they haven't told us why yet." Jiejie looked at Jack, who was probably the only one among them with some connection to NCIS.
Jack had been left alone in Hawaii before Christmas break and was involved in the smallpox case, working with the NCIS Special Projects Office in Los Angeles.
Of course, everyone has heard of someone who had a crazy crush on him in school and now serves as NCIS's chief forensic researcher.
The FBI had never been robbed of a case by a military investigative unit, and this kind of proactive request was a new experience for the experienced Jubal.
"Perhaps we'll understand the reason once we get there. Let's go now." Charlottesville
,
a small town with a population of less than 50,000, is quite famous in the United States for having produced a prominent figure: Thomas Jefferson, one of the three founding fathers of the United States, along with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
It's also home to the University of Virginia, a prestigious institution whose founder, Thomas Jefferson, practically wiped out his entire fortune during its founding years and remained unrepaid until his death at the age of 83.
At 2:00 PM, everyone arrived in Charlottesville, where television news vans were already swarming. Sheriff Tip Long of the State Police's Major Crimes Division greeted the FBI agents.
"Thank you for arriving so quickly," the sheriff's expression softened upon seeing the arrival of the Most Wanted Squad's command van.
"As I should." After Jubal shook hands with him and briefly introduced his team members, he went straight to the point and asked about the situation.
"It was a FedEx driver who called the police. He passed by the door of this company at 9:03 this morning and found something was wrong."
Sheriff Tip Long gestured for permission and led the way. Flashlights flashed from time to time outside the cordon. Fortunately, everyone had put on sunglasses before getting out of the car.
"You know, the security situation here has always been regarded as a model. After this case was reported in the news, almost half of the people in the town took leave. It's damn it."
The sheriff complained in a low voice and made his request. "These media are crazy. It would be great if you, the FBI, could hold a press conference as soon as possible to calm the public down."
"That's as I should, but we have to wait until we finish our assessment first." Jiejie chose a formulaic answer.
(End of this chapter)