Chapter 362: Who is the criminal?

His words were shocking. Zhou Ming's words stunned everyone like a heavy bomb. Neither the lawyer Alan nor the old Brooke or Deputy Director Mueller expected Zhou Ming to suddenly agree to this.

Alan hurriedly said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, how could you agree to this? You may not understand this kind of investigation. Many of them play with word games. Such investigation questions are inherently wrong. If you answer the wrong questions, you will go further and further down the wrong path, and they will convict you based on the wrong answers to these wrong questions. This will be very unjust to you!'

Alan really didn't want Zhou Ming to say yes, because he was now holding on for Zhou Ming's last breath. Once Zhou Ming said yes, God knows what kind of traps they would set for Zhou Ming. It had nothing to do with ability, it was just something that was impossible to defend against.

In contrast, Old Brook and Mueller were overjoyed. They wore the brightest smiles on their faces, and they were both saying, 'You've really made the right decision,' but in reality, they were both laughing inside.

This Chinese guy is really naive and doesn't understand American law. If he keeps quiet and everything is decided by the lawyer Alan, then they're really in a tricky situation. Although they can apply for coercive measures, it will take time to apply, and God knows how long that will take and what kind of trouble they'll encounter along the way. But now! As soon as the questioning starts, if you're not careful, you'll be going to hell for the next 18 lifetimes!

Old Brook and Mueller were viciously thinking in their hearts, not to mention, at least, to regain the face they had just lost.

Zhou Ming glanced at Old Brook and Mueller, then said to Alan, 'Don't worry, Lawyer Alan, this is a decision I have made, and I believe I can handle it. Please have confidence in me, okay?'

'But Mr. Zhou Ming, this is not a matter of confidence...'

Alan was anxious to say something, but in the end he gave in to Zhou Ming's gaze and could only say to Zhou Ming, 'Okay, but I will be by your side, Mr. Zhou Ming. If there is anything that does not comply with the law, or that may enter a legal trap, I will point it out for you, so that your answers can be as positive and objective as possible.'

Zhou Ming thanked Alan, and at this time, Old Brooker smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, saying, 'Mr. Zhou Ming has really made a very correct decision.'

'Cut the crap, so can we start now?' asked Zhou Ming.

'What a impatient young man, but I like it,' said Old Brook, 'then okay, please tell us how you manipulated the stock price movements of Deep Blue Airlines.'

Faced with this question from Old Brook, Alan immediately objected, 'Mr. Brook, I have already said that this kind of question with obvious bias is contrary to the fairness and impartiality of the investigation, and my client has the right to refuse to answer!'

However, Zhou Ming smiled and waved his hand, saying, 'It's okay, Lawyer Allen. Since Mr. Brook wants to know, I'll tell him.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, how can you do that? You are literally handing him the evidence against you. This is absolutely not allowed. As your lawyer, I have to help you avoid this kind of trouble...'

Before Alan could finish, the old Brook interrupted him, saying, 'Attorney Alan, I think I also need to remind you that you are only Mr. Zhou Ming's lawyer, and you only have the power to advise and help. You cannot make any decisions on his behalf. Now that Mr. Zhou Ming has volunteered to answer, we should respect his right to make his own choices, and this is the best choice at the moment.'

Old Brook said, pointing at the camera over there, and continued, 'If Lawyer Alan continues to act as he pleases, I think I will file a complaint with the bar association for obstruction of justice and have your lawyer's license revoked.'

Alan wanted to refute something, but after taking a look at the camera over there, he didn't dare say anything.

Zhou Ming gave Alan a reassuring look and then replied, 'Mr. Brook is asking me to answer what I was doing at the time, right? Then I can tell you very clearly that I originally signed an investment agreement with Deep Blue Airlines, and they gave me the most generous shareholder rights and dividends, as well as the highest bond interest. This is a completely legal investment.'

'These are indeed legal, but what happened after that? Are you trying to say that after you bought the stocks and bonds of Deep Blue Airlines, its stocks started to fluctuate like a roller coaster?' asked Old Brook.

'Yes and no, because in the capital market, no matter which company, after it receives a capital injection of 30 million US dollars, I believe there will definitely be some fluctuations, unless it is a super company with tens of billions of dollars, but Deep Blue Airlines is obviously not,' said Zhou Ming.

'That's true, but there is a certain range of influence that investment has on stocks, and the stock of Deep Blue Airlines has obviously exceeded that range. What's the explanation for that?' asked Old Brook again.

Zhou Ming replied, "I think there must be some other reason.'

'We just want to know what that other reason is," said Old Brook.

Zhou Ming hesitated for a moment and then asked, 'I'm not sure, but may I ask if what I'm about to say can be recorded by the camera as valid evidence?'

'Of course, as long as what you say is true and reliable,' Old Brook said quite reasonably.

'Then okay,' Zhou Ming nodded, 'in fact, I want to say that the fluctuation in the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines was indeed caused by human manipulation!'

As soon as Zhou Ming said this first sentence, it immediately made the eyes of both Old Brook and Deputy Director Mueller light up. It was really a stroke of luck. They had never expected that the Chinese would cooperate so much and confess without them even having to set a trap. This was really stupid. If they had known this would happen, they would have simply stripped him of his right to legal counsel, and the case would have definitely progressed ten million times faster.

Alan, the lawyer, stared at Zhou Ming with wide eyes. He couldn't understand why Zhou Ming had confessed on his own initiative after he had defended him for so long. Wasn't this like handing the opponent a knife? How could anyone respond to interrogation like that?

'So, Mr Zhou Ming, can you briefly explain how this was manipulated?' asked Brook, trying his best to keep his tone gentle so as not to frighten Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming, however, said, 'I'd better explain it in detail, because this matter is quite long.'

Old Brooker couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, as if he had a bad feeling. He really wanted to interrupt Zhou Ming and tell him to stop, but in the end he held back. But then he knew that he had made the stupidest decision.

'In fact, after I invested in Deep Blue Airlines, there was a period of abnormal fluctuations in the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines. For this reason, I advanced the press conference with Deep Blue Airlines. Oh yes, there is also a key person in this, namely Rogers, the key account manager of Brighton Bank Securities Company. It was he who introduced Deep Blue Airlines to me, and he also introduced me to many of his partners. We cooperated together on the investment,' Zhou Ming added after finishing speaking, 'Of course, all of our investment activities are also legal.'

'So there was another person here? Mr Zhou Ming, please continue.' Old Brook gave Zhou Ming a gesture of invitation.

'There were actually many people involved, just like an unfinished novel, you never know who the next character to appear will be.'

Zhou Ming continued, 'Later, when I went to the Dark Blue Airline every day, I always felt that someone was following me. Later, through my bodyguard, I learned that it was a hired investigator named Wharton. Someone offered him a high salary and provided him with everything he needed in order to keep following me and investigating my whereabouts, so that he could obtain insider information and make a high profit.'

'Stop!' Old Brook immediately alerted, 'These things have nothing to do with this case, please stop.'

But Zhou Ming simply ignored him, and motioned for his bodyguard to take a photo from his pocket and place it in front of the camera: 'This is the evidence. My bodyguard took it, and he carries it with him every day.'

While showing the photo to the camera, Zhou Ming said, 'It is precisely because of the existence of such a stalker that his shadowy boss can unscrupulously snipe the stock of Deep Blue Airlines. Before I publicly invested in Deep Blue Airlines, Deep Blue Airlines had been heavily bought and then heavily sold, causing a Black Monday for Deep Blue Airlines.'

'In view of this situation, I have investigated with both Deep Blue Airlines and Manager Rogers and found that a large amount of funds came from an offshore account in the Cayman Islands...'

Zhou Ming's words were interrupted by an outburst from Old Brook, who slammed his hand on the table: 'Shut up, I said all of this is not within the scope of this case's investigation. I order you to stop talking. You only need to explain how you manipulated the stock price, and don't say anything else!'

Zhou Ming laughed at the rebuke from Brook, and asked him in return, 'Mr Brook, what are you actually afraid of?'

'What am I afraid of? I'm not afraid at all. You're the one who's afraid, Mr Zhou Ming. You're afraid of being thrown in jail, and you're afraid of our questioning, so you deliberately say something else that's not important, but you always avoid answering your own questions,' said Brook.

Zhou Ming then turned to the camera and said, 'Because the offshore account that had bought and sold a large amount of shares in Deep Blue Airlines was this Mr. Brook.'

Zhou Ming pointed at Old Brook and continued, 'So why was he able to accurately grasp the situation of the Deep Blue Airlines stock? It was because he hired someone called Wharton at a high price and sent someone to follow me 24 hours a day to grasp the situation of Deep Blue Airlines. I don't know American law, so how should this behavior be defined.'

Facing the question thrown by Zhou Ming, Alan immediately replied, 'This is very easy to define. Mr. Brook violated the Securities Exchange Act. This is a serious crime of insider trading.'

'Then when Wharton and Mr. Brook had a conflict over something, Mr. Brook sent someone to beat Wharton and throw him out of the house. In the end, Mr. Wharton almost died under a bridge. How should this behavior be defined?' Zhou Ming asked again.

'This kind of behavior is an even more serious crime, and it can even be defined directly as murder!' Alan said.

Finally, Zhou Ming stood up and said loudly, 'So who is actually committing a crime, who is the real criminal? Is such a hearing fair, with a criminal hearing his own case? Or is it just to ensure that the criminal can shift all his guilt onto other innocent people?'

Facing Zhou Ming's barrage of questions, Lao Brook suddenly slumped in his chair, mumbling, "Shut up, just shut up..."