American Tax Officer

After Selina had left, David picked up the phone and called both Colton and Hector, the Chief Tax Officers at the bureau, asking them to come to his office.

Seven or eight minutes later, the two of them pushed open the door and entered.

Hector was the first to ask, "What did you need us for, Director David?"

David took out two pieces of paper from a drawer and pushed them in front of the two men, saying, "Don't say I didn't remember you when good things happen. I'll let your teams seal these two places first, and after the case is over, I'll share a portion of the taxes with you!"

Dieter's assets and the number of prohibited goods processing factories were not small; he currently didn't have enough personnel under him.

Another thing was that although the case against Dieter was currently being led by him,

Inspection teams like Hutton's and Hector's had already done their own investigations on Dieter.

If he were to take all the tax revenue for himself now, it would seem a bit insensible.

Hearing there was good news, both Hutton and Hector's eyes lit up, and they quickly picked up their respective pieces of paper. Soon, they saw that each contained an address.

With some confusion, Hector asked, "What is this place?"

"These are Dieter's prohibited goods processing factories!"

"Oh?"

The two men were somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting that David actually had information on two of Dieter's prohibited goods processing factories.

Hector then asked, "We know you've sealed two of his venues; are you sealing these prohibited goods factories to force him into submission as well?"

"No, something happened yesterday, and it went like this..."

David immediately recounted the ambush he faced and his plans to comprehensively strike at Dieter.

When they heard that David had been ambushed, the two were shocked, having not anticipated Dieter to be so ruthless.

But soon, they were pleased.

Since David had already taken care of Sapir and now had the locations of these prohibited goods factories, plus the liquidation of Dieter's other assets, there was definitely a substantial amount of tax revenue to be collected.

And David had just said that he would share a portion of the taxes with them, which certainly meant a significant amount!

It was too much to ask for, but at a minimum, it would save their inspectors a struggle of at least ten days to half a month, that was certain!

Hector pounded his chest, assuring, "This Dieter is so brazen, daring to ambush you, Director David; rest assured, our team will definitely cooperate!"

"Our team as well!"

"Alright, then go and arrange it with the inspectors of your teams!"

The two did not dawdle; knowing that Dieter's people were likely also in a hurry to deal with the factories, they quickly got up and left to make arrangements.

About half an hour after the two had gone, the phone on David's desk rang; he picked it up, "This is David."

"Director David, Chief Smith from the Lake District Police Station is here to see you,"

Hearing Chief Smith had arrived, David was momentarily stunned.

But he quickly guessed some reasons for the visit.

According to his investigations, Chief Smith had a vested interest in Dieter, and now that Dieter had made such a big mess and fled back to the reserve,

Chief Smith was definitely not in a position to escape.

To prevent the IRS from blowing this matter up and implicating him, his best choice was to come to the IRS first to clear his association!

"Let him come up."

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the office door.

Accompanied by an invitation to enter, Smith walked in with Wade and Balk.

[Name: Smith Rodriguez.]

[Occupation: Chief of the Lake District Police Station.]

[Monthly Income: Legal income 8900 US dollars, illegal income 96000 US dollars.]

[Income Details: December 4th, profited 2000 US dollars by protecting a gang of outlaws; gained 5000 US dollars in bribes for human smuggling, through... January 1st, acquired 40,000 US dollars in bribes from Dieter...]

[More details: ...]

[Tax Due: 24000 US dollars.]

After a detailed review with his Golden Finger, David found, as the investigations showed, that Smith indeed had deep financial ties with Dieter.

"Director David, I have long heard of your great reputation, but I didn't expect it to only be today that we'd finally meet!"

Smith extended his right hand with a smile, as if the previous threat from David had never happened.

David, of course, knew this guise was just for show, but he didn't call it out. He likewise reached out his right hand with a smile and replied, "Chief Smith, I too have long heard of your great name. What wind brings you here today, I wonder?"

Seeing David feign ignorance, Smith felt a bit irked but had to forcefully reply, "Nothing much, I heard from these two subordinates a while back that the IRS had come up with some black tax bill. As the Chief of the Lake District, I naturally need to set an example for my subordinates and colleagues!"

His words were an implicit hint to David: there's corruption in the Lake District, and it's not just me; plenty of people in the police department are involved, so just don't solely target me!

David understood perfectly and replied with a meaningful tone, "So you are admitting that you have illegal income?"

Smith, who had forcibly conjured a smile, looked suddenly crestfallen upon hearing these words.

I've already hinted at it, do you really have to spell it out and make everyone uncomfortable?

Although he was annoyed, the current situation wasn't good, and with Senator Angstorm already pressing for a handover, he had no choice but to suppress his anger and reply, "As you know, once you reach our level of position, it's inevitable that some criminals will send us things."

"I'm okay, I can control myself, but my family... they can't."

"So after you had your subordinate remind me, I immediately had my family tally up the illicit gains, and today just happens to be the day we've completed the accounting!"

It was fortunate Smith's family wasn't there, otherwise they would surely have cried foul!

Hearing about blaming his family, David could hardly contain his amusement and asked with a smirk, "Oh? And how much did you tally up, Chief Tax Officer Smith?"

"According to the Black Tax Act, from its inception to the monthly tax deadline, it's about 23,600 US dollars, does that sound about right?"

"Close enough, it's similar to what our National Tax Bureau's system has calculated!"

The figure displayed on the golden finger was 24,000 US dollars.

But David knew that everyone is human, not a database; it can be very hard for anyone to remember exactly how much bribery they've received in a month.

As long as the difference isn't too significant, he wasn't going to seriously pursue it.

Smith pulled out a thick envelope from his pocket and pushed it across the desk to David, "This is mine!"

Following suit, Wade and Balk, standing behind him, each took out an envelope and laid it on the table, saying in unison, "This is mine!"

Seeing the three of them so understanding, David was also quite satisfied and picked up the phone, "Ariel, bring up three entry forms!"

Upon hearing the words 'entry form,' Smith, Wade, and Balk all frowned in unison.

Because they knew very well.

Once recorded in the National Tax Bureau's database, if they ever dared to evade taxes or offend the Tax Bureau, the Bureau could destroy them at any moment.

But there was no choice, since they had chosen to come, they had to accept this outcome.

At this moment, their resentment towards Dieter grew even stronger.

If it weren't for Dieter, things wouldn't have escalated to this point, and they might still have some leeway to salvage the situation.

A few minutes later, Ariel and Selina walked in.

"Director."

"Count this money and help register Chief Smith, as well as Officer Wade and Officer Balk in the records!"

Hearing this, Ariel merely glanced at Smith in surprise, but Selina was thoroughly shocked.

She had been in the Lake District for several days now.

In these days, she had seen many criminals being processed, either by herself or other inspectors, but it was her first time dealing with public officials.

And that wasn't even the most important part—the person in front of her was a chief of police!

"Selina..."

Ariel was ready to count the money, but noticed Selina still in a daze and quickly prompted her.

Selina snapped back to reality and hurriedly came to help.

The taxes paid by the three men together amounted to just over 20,000 US dollars, so it wasn't long before Ariel came up with the figures.

"Together... it's a total of 24,750 US dollars."

David nodded to indicate his approval.

Then, Ariel and Selina brought the entry forms before Smith, Wade, and Balk.

"Chief Smith, you need to write your badge number here, as well as your workplace, and..."

"Officer Balk, you need to write your badge number here, as well as your workplace, and..."

Under their guidance. -chapter

It wasn't long before the three filled out the forms.

Once Ariel checked that there were no issues, she and Selina took the money and entry forms and left.

They hadn't gone far from the door when Selina couldn't help but ask, "Ariel, isn't Smith a chief of police? What method is Director David using that they're so willing to pay us taxes?"

Ariel smirked disdainfully and replied, "What's a chief of police? Do you know that before you arrived, the CIA's people were caught by our Chief Tax Officer, and in the end they were even locked up? It was only after their supervisor came to pay the tax that they were let go!"

"CIA!"

Selina was stunned, and her forward stride came to an abrupt halt.

The CIA is America's, and indeed the world's, top-ranked intelligence agency!

In her mind, matters like turning armed groups around the world or capturing terrorists for waterboarding had always seen them manipulating others, never someone daring to manipulate them.

Yet unexpectedly, they had been held in David's grip and were even locked up?

If not for Ariel's own words, Selina would never have believed it!