Familiar Accountants

Bell is one of the reporters dispatched by the British BBC to report on the Olympics in Athens. For Bell, being sent to Athens means being able to watch exciting Olympic games, enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Aegean Sea, and receive an allowance for going out. It's definitely a fantastic job, much better than staying in gloomy London.

After a day's work, Bell returned to his residence, brewed a cup of coffee for himself, then sat on the balcony in a wicker chair, picked up a newspaper, and began to enjoy some leisure time.

"'Tourist wins 4 million euros by betting on Iraq beating Portugal 4-2,' there are always a dozen or so lucky ones every year!" Bell saw this news in the corner of the newspaper.

"A tourist from China placed a heavy bet on Iraq defeating Portugal 4-2, winning over 4 million euros. My goodness, how could anyone bet on Iraq beating Portugal 4-2? This couldn't possibly be a marketing advertisement from the bookmakers!" Bell saw a small photo attached to the newspaper, showing an Asian man receiving a check from the bookmaker.

"Hmm, this Chinese guy looks somewhat familiar; I'm sure I've seen him somewhere." Bell carefully examined the photo. Perhaps the black and white of the newspaper affected the photo's quality; Bell couldn't recall where he had seen this Chinese man before.

Bell picked up his coffee cup, turned back into the room, opened his laptop, and accessed the OPAP website to find this news.

The photo on the computer was much clearer than in the newspaper, and Bell immediately recognized him—it was the Chinese man he interviewed at the betting station a few days ago. Bell's interview had already aired in the UK two days ago. However, with the Olympics approaching, various Olympic reports were flooding in, and Bell's interview didn't attract much attention, quickly getting lost among the news of the Olympic games.

"So, it's him! Damn, he's really lucky! 4 million euros, enough for him to spend several lifetimes in China. Iraq beating Portugal 4-2, no one with even a bit of common sense would bet on that. Wait a minute, could this Chinese guy have some insider information?" A conspiracy theory flashed through Bell's mind.

However, Bell immediately dismissed his own thoughts.

"It's unlikely; even if there were insider information, it shouldn't be known to a Chinese person. It seems this Chinese guy is either a betting expert, incredibly lucky, or perhaps has some mystical Eastern magic. Oh right, I remember that day I didn't bet on the Iraq vs. Portugal match; I bet on a Chinese athlete winning the 100 meters." Bell immediately opened the official website of the Athens Olympics and found the information about all male 100-meter athletes.

"Haijian Chen, this is the Chinese athlete. No, it wasn't this name back then." Bell scrolled down the page, continuing to search.

"Guan Zhang, yes, that's the Chinese guy I bet on!" Bell clicked on the name, and the athlete's basic information and photo appeared before Bell's eyes.

"What! This... this is... this is the bettor himself! Good lord, it's crazy! What an idiot!" Bell exclaimed.

But then, Bell realized that this was definitely a sensational news story—a participant who couldn't possibly win a medal spending tens of thousands of euros betting on himself to win an Olympic gold medal. This was undoubtedly full of sensationalism. It was like suddenly hearing that Mongolia was going to spend 10 billion to build an aircraft carrier—astounding. And most importantly, the participant was a Chinese, and given BBC's penchant for criticizing China, Bell could exploit this in the article to attract attention from the audience.

As for Zhang Guan's bet on Iraq defeating Portugal 4-2, Bell had already forgotten about it. Instances of winning big prizes by betting on underdogs happen every year in Europe, indicating exceptional luck, although it's not impossible. It's like a gold digger finding gold in abandoned mines.

'Gold digger finds gold in abandoned mines' or 'Mongolia spends 100 billion to build an aircraft carrier,' which headline is more attractive? Obviously the latter. Everyone knows Mongolia doesn't even have a sea. 'An Olympic participant bets and wins big on an underdog' or 'Chinese athlete bets big on himself to win Olympic 100 meters gold,' which one is more sensational? Obviously the latter. Because the whole world believes Chinese people can't win the Olympic 100 meters gold.

At this point, Bell put aside his leisure time and started brainstorming for a sensational report in front of his computer.

...

Fragiskos is an accountant, and the accounting firm he works for has been serving OPAP for a long time. Today, OPAP introduced a business to the accounting firm: a tourist has just earned 4 million euros through betting, and he needs to transfer this huge sum out of Athens, minimizing the transaction fees. Today is the day Fragiskos is supposed to meet this tourist.

To Fragiskos's surprise, the location the tourist arranged to meet is not in the center of Athens but in a café in the open area of the Olympic Village.

"What a lucky guy. If I'm not mistaken, he should be the one!" Fragiskos thought to himself as he entered the café and asked the waiter, "I have an appointment with someone. Can you tell me where table 5 is?"

"It's over there," the waiter pointed in a direction, and Fragiskos turned to see a face he had seen before.

"Indeed, it's that Eastern person." Fragiskos walked over and greeted, "Hello, sir. It's unexpected to see you again. I'm Varis Fragiskos, an accountant."

"Yeah, it's so soon we meet again." Zhang Guan invited the other person to sit down.

Fragiskos was the middle-aged man in khaki suit who had previously analyzed how strong Portugal was at the betting station. So when Fragiskos heard someone had bet on Iraq defeating Portugal 4-2, the first person he thought of was the Eastern man he saw at the betting station.

Fragiskos ordered a cup of coffee and then said, "I witnessed a miracle that day at the betting station! I even tried to stop you from betting on Iraq, but fortunately, you didn't listen to me."

"I've always been optimistic about Iraq; I think they have a chance to reach the quarter-finals," Zhang Guan replied.

"Quarter-finals? I believe in your judgment. I'll definitely bet on Iraq to reach the quarter-finals later." Fragiskos spoke up.

"But now the odds on Iraq have dropped significantly," Zhang Guan smiled.

Since Iraq defeated Portugal, the bookmakers immediately adjusted the odds, and some even speculated that Iraq might win the championship. Now, betting on Iraq didn't offer as high odds as a few days ago.

Then, the two got to the main topic.

Zhang Guan spoke first, "Mr. Fragiskos, I want to transfer this prize money back to China. You know I'm a Chinese, and I'll spend the money in China. But I don't know how to proceed, so I need your help."

"Mr. Zhang, thank you very much for your trust. We have many ways to transfer your money to China." Fragiskos lowered his voice and continued, "Of course, there are also some special methods."

Zhang Guan knew that Fragiskos's so-called "special methods" were likely related to underground banks for money laundering. So Zhang Guan immediately shook his head, "I need legal ways, even if it costs more in fees."

"Okay, sir, we also have many legal methods." Fragiskos continued to explain, "First, you can directly use international electronic remittance, which can be remitted to any bank in your country that provides foreign exchange services. However, you'll need to pay hefty fees for this method. In addition, due to historical reasons, NATO has strict scrutiny over large funds directly remitted to Russia and China. And as far as I know, there are also restrictions on repatriation for citizens returning to their home country. Sometimes, you may encounter trouble, so I don't recommend this process for you."

Zhang Guan nodded, "You're right. Our country has no restrictions on receiving foreign remittances and inward remittances, but there are restrictions on repatriation. Each person is limited to fifty thousand US dollars equivalent per year."

"In addition, there's a second method, which is through trading companies, to bring the money to your country through trade. We can find a suitable trading company for you, but this method is more complex. You know, the settlement cycle for foreign trade is longer, and if the exchange rate fluctuates, you may suffer losses, which may even exceed the fees for your normal remittance." Fragiskos explained, then took a sip of coffee and continued when he saw Zhang Guan didn't ask questions.

"The third method is through the UK. First, transfer the funds from Greece to the UK. Since both the UK and Greece are EU countries, there's no problem with cross-border remittances; then transfer the money to Hong Kong through multinational financial companies. You know, due to historical reasons, there are very few financial restrictions between the UK and Hong Kong, and there are many companies in the UK doing this business now. Finally, you need to open an account in Hong Kong and transfer the money to your account. Hong Kong is the financial center of Asia, and there are very few restrictions on funds repatriation. This method is fast, convenient, safe, cost-effective, and can avoid a lot of trouble. I strongly recommend you choose this option."

"Okay, let's choose the third method, but I hope you can wait a little longer before proceeding with the operation." Zhang Guan immediately replied.

"Why?" Fragiskos asked.

"Don't forget, I also bet on Iraq reaching the quarter-finals. Maybe in a few days, I'll have another big prize." Zhang Guan said with a smile.