After visiting two local banks and providing the relevant documents to start the investigation, they found that the bank statements were useless once they had arrived.
"There are no large transfers on this account, so it must be on the remaining card. Let's go!"
They drove to the third bank, following the usual protocol of first seeking out the person in charge there.
After the lobby manager reported upstairs, a vice-president of the branch soon came out, introducing himself as Mr. Zhang.
However, Vice President Zhang frowned as he examined the investigation order and other materials for a long time before saying, "You are lawyers, right? Now you want to check the bank statements of Hou Xiangyuan and his wife? I have to tell you, we can't do that."
What? Song Tengfei was taken aback, then said, "Vice President Zhang, why can't you check? We have an investigation order issued by the Bright District Court."
Vice President Zhang directly replied, "I know what kind of investigation order you have, but unless people from the court come in person, we will not provide it, this is our internal rule."
"The two of you are just lawyers, so it's useless for you to come here."
Just as Old Song was about to speak up, Tang Fangjing stopped him, then said, "So Vice President Zhang, what you mean is that this investigation order is useless, right?"
"Yes, even with the investigation order it's useless; it must be people from the court who come."
Upon hearing this, Tang Fangjing nodded and said, "Alright, now I understand."
"However, could you please indicate the reason for refusing the investigation on the investigation order? That way, at least we have something to report."Tang Fangjing spoke up again.
Old Song had never experienced anything , but he clearly remembered encountering similar situations in his past life.
Does the bank have a reason to refuse the investigation order? Of course, it does—the "Commercial Bank Law." The bank is responsible for financial security.
And as for the lawyer's investigation order, you can't find it in any law made by the National People's Congress, so its legal basis is insufficient; it originates from the court's own regulations.
Essentially, it's because there are too few people, so the investigation is outsourced to lawyers.
Tang Fangjing didn't argue with the other party; he thought about getting them to state the reason and going back to negotiate with the judge handling the case.
Vice President Zhang was somewhat impatient as he said, "Why should we give you a reason? There is no reason; we can't acknowledge this thing you have. Who knows if it's a scam."
Ah, this... Tang Fangjing looked at the huge seal of the court on the investigation order; if anyone dared to forge this, they would probably end up eating prison food for a good while.
Song Tengfei had already finished his call, walking over and saying, "Vice President Zhang, how about this? Call this number; it's one of the court's public numbers. Our judge is waiting; let him explain it to you."
Vice President Zhang was displeased but still made the call, and soon Old Zhou's voice came through.
"Hello, Vice President Zhang, this is Zhou Yong, a judge from the Bright District Court. The lawyers have already gone over there, right? The investigation order is issued by the court.
Let me explain it to you: This is considered an investigation by the court enforcement officers, and no unit or individual may refuse or delay the investigation on the grounds of internal regulations or needing leadership approval."
"Judge Zhou, could you please wait a moment while I call our president here."
Before long, a female president came over and took the phone, saying, "Judge Zhou, right? We really can't check this on our side; it's just not possible on the system, we have regulations that only court personnel can do the search."
On the other side of the phone, Zhou Yong spoke again, "Your Vice President Zhang has just mentioned to you, right? This is equivalent to an investigation by court enforcement officers. If you still refuse, the court will impose a fine."
However, no matter what Zhou Yong said, the bank still stated they couldn't comply.
After hanging up, Old Song looked at Tang Fangjing and said, "What should we do now?"
He had never seen an institution directly resist a court's investigation order before.
"No rush, just head back; the court cares about this matter even more than we do!"
When the court issued an investigation order, and the bank refused on the grounds of internal regulations, guess whose face hurt then.
By the afternoon, there was already a call from the court.
"Go on, they've agreed; head over and check it out before they close up shop for the day."
Tang Fangjing and his partner arrived at the bank, this time without any hindrance. They accessed the information smoothly, and the bank manager with the dark expression didn't mention anything about internal policies anymore...
Old Tang, curious, had to ask, and a staff member replied with a bitter smile, "What internal regulations? The court went ahead and issued a pre-fine notice. If we refused the investigation order, we'd be fined five hundred thousand..."
And that was the end of it; so much for internal regulations, and the reason was quite simple: it all depends on who has the authority to interpret the law.
Despite a bit of a hiccup along the way, they eventually got hold of the bank statements. Old Tang was about to search for the previous transfer records, when he stumbled upon an astonishing sight!
Just a few days ago, Madame Hou's bank card received a transfer of about seven hundred thousand, right from the account of the plaintiff who was suing for the money...
Tang Fangjing was stunned by this scene. Are these people really playing such sly games in plain sight? Didn't that attorney Li think to mention that cash would be the safest?
With this, there's no need to look any further back in the statements. Just this alone is a dead giveaway.
"Let's go, Old Song; we've got what we need. Time to file a report!"
One hour later, at the Bell Tower police station.
The police officer looked at the evidence before him, then at the two of them: "You two have gathered quite comprehensive evidence."
With the litigation time, verdict, and bank statements in hand—plus the previous statements found—-it was clear that Hou Xiangyuan had paid off the debt last year. Follow current novᴇls on NoveI-Fire.ɴet
It was just unclear why the IOU hadn't been destroyed.
There was no need for further investigation; the evidence alone was sufficient to form a compelling chain, no testimonies needed...
The only thing to do was to verify the authenticity of the verdict and bank statements, a task that wouldn't even take an hour.
"Alright, head home and wait for news. This case should be quick."
If only every case were as simple as this one, the attending police officer mused...
After filing the report, Tang Fangjing didn't bother with it any further, focusing on preparing instead. The Lawyers' Association wanted to see him, but Old Song fobbed them off.
In Old Song's words, "I am the attorney on this case; if you're going to investigate, why not investigate me? What's an intern like him got to do with it? He's nothing!"
As for dropping the lawsuit, that was out of the question. Old Song used all his years of experience to refuse any investigation; after all, they had no evidence.
In the midst of such wrangling, the time for the court trial finally arrived.
Li Changming had sent out a message online early, informing his followers about the trial.
"Today is crucial for me. Our director will support me; I told him that I, too, am a lawyer. Without arguing, there's no clarity. I'm going to argue it out with them today!"
With such significant online traffic, the support from the Lawyers' Association, and the law on his side, he really didn't see how he could lose.