Chapter 1302: Chapter 1301: One Dollar
"...Based on the aforementioned evidence, do you plead guilty?"
The judge lowered his head to look at the president in the defendant’s seat. He wore reading glasses, needing to slightly lower his head when looking at people so his gaze could pass over the lenses through the space between his eyes and forehead.
Otherwise, at such a distance, the reading glasses would only make what he sees even more blurry.
Actually, the judge also knew the president was somewhat... unlucky. The article they published last year should logically have had no consequence then, and certainly not now.
But who knew that particular article, reportedly, was seen by a wealthy minority capitalist, who then began to stir things up.
He gathered a group of capitalists of the same level to support him, then launched a political offensive. Members of Parliament were bustling about for this matter, so... it was just a stroke of bad luck!
What an unfortunate guy!
The judge watched the president, planning to give him a slight hint after he uttered "I plead not guilty."
Standing firm now would not yield a good outcome; it would only further anger those minorities whose emotions were already stirred, and the wealthy tycoons paying for a sense of satisfaction.
The president didn’t give him the chance and directly, unexpectedly, expressed a guilty plea.
A straightforward plea of guilty, completely different from his attitude during the last hearing.
The judge looked at the president, "Are you sure you plead guilty?"
He repeated, afraid he had misheard or the president had misspoken.
The president then lifted his head to look at the judge, loudly declaring, "Yes, I plead guilty. I apologize to each victim for the unforgivable mistakes I made. I am willing to actively help them overcome their psychological obstacles..."
Such a strong will to survive slightly surprised the judge, though it did not shock him.
He nodded, "I have recognized my mistakes. I admit my guilt and am willing to repent. I implore the court to give me the opportunity to apologize to all plaintiffs who have suffered psychological trauma."
These words were taught to him by the lawyer. At this time, the lawyer also stood up, "Your Honor, my client has deeply reflected on himself and realized the wrongs he committed, and he is willing to plead guilty and compensate the victims."
"So I plead with the court to consider the defendant’s attitude and provide some leniency in judgment."
The lawyer wanted to bring up the punitive damages issue; this was the utmost effort he could make.
Because the defendant pleaded guilty, some procedures no longer needed to continue, following a brief recess and discussion, court resumed.
This time, the judge directly announced the result.
"...(President’s name), we believe your guilty plea reflects your understanding of the issues and outcomes, but this is not sufficient to mitigate the ruling."
"All rise..."
Everyone in the courtroom stood, including the judge, "The case is hereby concluded, ...(President’s name) to pay the seven plaintiffs a total of three thousand four hundred fifteen dollars and sixty-two cents in emotional damages..."
"Meanwhile, we will impose a three million Federation Sol punitive fine on...(President’s name), to make people aware of the deeper social problems in this case..."
At that instant, the president experienced a ringing in his ears.
It was like a Peng Jieao strongman used a hand as large as an elephant’s ear to heavily slap both sides of his ears!
The sky and the earth were spinning, his vision darkened, and the ringing in his ears made him hear nothing!
His consciousness completely faded within a short few seconds!
The ambulance came quickly and left just as fast. When people outside the court learned of the final result, they began to sincerely praise the fairness and justice of Federation law!
Particularly immigrants and minorities, who felt this was the true spirit of the Federation: equality, freedom, and the right of every person to live happily!
Mainstream society also started discussing attitudes towards immigrants, as if overnight, the issues of immigrants and minorities received attention—albeit relatively speaking.
Federation’s true natives also expressed to the protection zone government their wish to live outside the reservation, but these requests were denied, with county police patting the machine gun beside them, telling those people.
It’s too dangerous outside, go back home.
Well, this was just a minor episode.
The day after the verdict, the president awakened and immediately sought out the lawyer.
"Is there any chance to change the outcome, appeal, or contest?" His face was slightly pale, his body trembling.
He could not afford this punitive fine, which meant he would go bankrupt, and so would the publishing house!
The lawyer rubbed his temples, being exhausted by this case recently, "There’s no hope. Do you know what the mainstream media calls this?"
The president shook his head, the lawyer scoffed and said, "They call it a great advancement of the basic rights of Federation citizens..."
This kind of definitive commentary, once issued, means the case can’t be reversed.
He’s in publishing; he knows very well that without higher-level pressure or momentum, the media wouldn’t use such assertive wording.
In just a few days, life was like a roller coaster, thrilling and exciting.
You thought you had reached the highest point, but in reality, it was just setting you up for a deeper plunge!
The magazine was soon forced to close, followed by the bank taking over the magazine’s bankruptcy liquidation.
According to the bankruptcy processes for Federation enterprises and individuals, after the rights to the shares are cleared, a certain amount of recourse is pursued.
Bankruptcy refers to a situation where one has lost the ability to pay, not where you have several houses, cars, a pile of savings, yet refuse to pay.
All the shareholders of the magazine were dragged into it, including an unexpected janitor.
Later, the court considered the unforeseeable method by which he acquired his shares and the absence of any legally binding documents, so this janitor was not included on the list of those whose assets needed to be liquidated.
But others weren’t so lucky; they all had share transfer agreements with the magazine, so they had to bear joint liability...
Most people’s situations weren’t too bad; after paying a few thousand or tens of thousands, they hadn’t gone bankrupt. But some people’s luck was clearly not as good.
For instance, the president, vice president, and the like.
Their houses, cars, and all valuable possessions were auctioned off by the bank, and they still owed the bank a lot of money.
This was really a sad news.
The hospital also, because the president couldn’t pay the medical fees, threw him out to the roadside across the hospital.
At this time, the staff of Golden Exchange Bank rushed back to Bupen overnight and found Lynch.
"Here is the transfer document. If there are no issues, once you sign it, these trademarks will be completely yours, Mr. Lynch."
In the bank’s eyes, Lynch was no longer just a rich person; the various revenues he brought to the bank each year could occupy one or two percent of the bank’s annual profit.
This was already an astonishing figure, so when he informed Golden Exchange Bank that there were items in a judicial auction in a neighboring state that he wanted, the bank immediately arranged for a management-level figure to personally go and acquire Lynch’s desired items, and then brought them back overnight.
Now, the original registered trademark of the "Vanguard" magazine, which had made exorbitant demands, lay in front of Lynch. He handed the contract to his lawyer and then smiled and started chatting with the customer service manager in front of him.
He was relatively close with Golden Exchange Bank; he even had friends on the board, so naturally, the customer service department did not think representing the mid-to-high levels of Golden Exchange allowed them to act high-handedly in front of Lynch.
That was impossible; ten of him wouldn’t hold more value to the bank than one Lynch.
He was skilled at communication techniques, which made chatting with Lynch very pleasant.
No matter what you said, someone would always skillfully flatter you, and anyone would feel genuine joy from it.
After the lawyer carefully reviewed and confirmed there were no issues, Lynch signed the transfer document.
The registration certificates for these trademarks and various rights documents were entirely legal; it went "unsold" at the judicial auction in the neighboring state, then was internally liquidated for "a thousand bucks" by Golden Exchange Bank.
Afterward, it was transferred to Lynch by Golden Exchange Bank for "one dollar."
See, the entire process was supervised and protected by Federation law, reasonable and legitimate, and no fault could be found by anyone.
"If you have any other needs, please feel free to contact me; this is my phone number..."
The customer service manager behaved very humbly, like a newly graduated salesperson, and even bowed when leaving.
But Lynch wouldn’t underestimate him because of this; anyone who could lower their head was worthy of respect.
"Now it’s not a problem!"
The next day, in the office, Lynch waved various certificates in his hand, while Momo looked astonished.
She actually knew this would be the result, but she didn’t know the entire process would be so simple and filled with a rhythm she couldn’t quite describe!
Power, wealth, they are always the best aphrodisiacs!
The former TV station director’s methods were too low-grade, and of course, his own level was too low; even if he explained some things clearly, it would only make people feel disgusted.
But what Lynch did made Momo feel a deep, inherent desire to be conquered!
This is the allure of wealth, the charm of power!
Forty minutes later, those integrals were stored in the cryopreservation chamber, and Momo, who had just vented a burning desire from within, sat serenely on the swivel chair.
She crossed her legs; the room was warm, and she wore a short dress, her bare thighs attracting glances.
She stared blankly at Bupen outside the window, as birds flew away, and sunlight bathed the ocean in the distance, making the whole world look like a different place.
At this very moment, just like her moist and feverish heart, she seemed in the sky to see something she had never seen before—
Welcome to the Federation!
