Hong Kong News: Police Talker

Chapter 1056 Paying Money

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Watson entered the conference room on time. Seeing that the room was full, a smile appeared on his face. He walked to the first seat and sat down and said, "I guess many of you don't know me yet, so let me introduce myself. My name is Watson, and I am the Chief Commander of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force."

"Now that I've finished my introduction, please tell me which banks you are from!"

Phillips, a director of Citibank, immediately stood up with a smile on his face and said, "I'm Phillips, a representative of Citibank. Nice to meet you all!"

"I'm Li Chunlin, a representative of Bank of East Asia..."

"I'm Lam Yiu Sing, a representative of Hang Seng Bank..."

Soon, everyone finished their introductions, and Watson clapped his hands and said, "Welcome everyone to this meeting."

"Regarding the content of this meeting, I want to make my position clear here: you are not allowed to spread panic by making random comments after leaving."

Seeing everyone's faces become solemn, Watson continued, "The reason I called everyone here this time is because of the counterfeit money."

As soon as Watson finished speaking, everyone started talking.

"Counterfeit money?"

"What counterfeit money? How come I don't know?"

"Hua Sir, did the police discover the counterfeit money?"

Watson knocked on the table and said in a deep voice, "Let's discuss this later. Now listen to me."

"Our police did find a batch of counterfeit banknotes, but they were not Hong Kong dollars, but US dollars. The quality was very good. Except for professionals, ordinary people could not tell the real from the fake."

As he spoke, Watson gestured to Chen Yongren, who immediately began to take out fake US dollars and distribute them to everyone.

"What everyone has in their hands now is fake US dollars. The connection has solved two of the three major problems: acid-free paper and color-changing ink. Only the gravure printing has some defects."

"But even so, this is still a very high-quality fake US dollar bill. After all, the difference between real and fake US dollars is very small, and even currency detectors can't identify it. If it gets out, it will definitely cause an uproar."

"And your banks should all have US dollar reserves. If a lot of counterfeit US dollars appear on the market, I'm sure your banks will be affected. You can't possibly assign professionals to constantly check the authenticity of US dollars!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was in an uproar, but no one discussed it. Instead, they all looked at Watson.

Citibank's director, Philips, frowned and said, "Mr. Hua, now that you've told everyone about the counterfeit money, I'm sure you've found a solution!"

Watson didn't keep the conversation a secret and spoke directly, "Our police investigation has revealed that this batch of counterfeit US dollars was produced by a counterfeit banknote ring headed by someone nicknamed Painter. However, because this counterfeit banknote ring's headquarters isn't located on Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong Island police currently have very little information."

"This time we are calling everyone together because we, the police, hope that everyone can contribute a little money to the reward for information leading to this counterfeit money ring. This way, we can address the root cause and directly eliminate this counterfeit money ring."

"As the saying goes, 'A thief can steal for a thousand days, but you can never be on guard against them for a thousand days.' Only by completely eradicating this counterfeit money ring can we all live in peace. What do you all think of my proposal?"

After these words were spoken, everyone present fell silent. Citibank's Phipps thought for a moment and then said, "Mr. Hua, I wonder what the reward amount is this time?"

Watson smiled faintly: "That depends on everyone. Even if no one can tell the difference, our police force will give the other party a banner."

He acted very nonchalant, as if this was not a police case.

And this attitude obviously intimidated most people.

Philips paused and said, "If that's the case, then we at Citibank are going to give everyone a heads-up. We at Citibank are willing to offer a reward of two million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to this counterfeit banknote ring."

Before he came, he had considered whether the police wanted everyone to pay money to do something. After all, apart from money, he couldn't think of anything else to ask for when going to the bank.

Therefore, Fiplis had previously communicated with the board of directors and would choose how much to pay based on the size of the matter.

In his opinion, this fake US dollar is quite important. After all, Citibank is not only located in Hong Kong Island. It is a large international bank and the main currency in circulation is the US dollar.

So I just gave out two million, which can be regarded as setting an example.

After seeing that Citibank had offered two million, Li Chunlin immediately said, "Our Bank of East Asia will also offer two million."

"Hang Seng Bank offered one million..."

"Standard Chartered Bank offers one million..."

"Wing Lung Bank offered 500,000..."

Seeing that all the banks started to pay money, a smile appeared on Watson's face, and his eyes looked at Citibank with kindness.

There is no way. If Citibank hadn't taken the lead, it would not be easy to get everyone to contribute money.

If you want to deposit money in these banks, you are the boss, but if you want to withdraw money from them, you are the enemy.

It is really because Watson's reputation in the police force and Hong Kong Island is too high now. Not to mention the police force, even ordinary citizens outside know that the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau has a very capable leader, which has made it a long time since Hong Kong Island has seen gangsters fighting on the streets.

Finally, according to Chen Yongren's statistics, a total of 8.5 million in rewards were received.

Watson stood up with a smile on his face and said, "On behalf of the police force and the countless citizens of Hong Kong Island, I thank you all for your help. I will issue an announcement later and provide detailed information on which banks provided the funds."

"I believe that after this incident, countless citizens of Hong Kong Island will understand which bank is trustworthy."

Hearing this, everyone was slightly stunned, and then their faces were filled with joy. How could they not understand what this meant?

This is equivalent to spending money on advertising, and it is an advertisement issued by the police. In the future, countless people will consider these banks that have provided money when they want to save money.

Philips had not expected such a gain, and his face lit up with joy. At the same time, he also observed that no one came to HSBC, which was really great.

HSBC has always been known for its high-end image in front of countless people, so many people prefer to deposit their money in big banks, as this reduces the chances of something going wrong.

If the police can issue an announcement this time and there is no HSBC but Citibank, then the two million Hong Kong dollars will be well worth it.

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