Chapter 154: 100 Billion Yuan Claim

A beautiful blonde with a microphone appears in the camera: 'Hello everyone, I'm Susan, a reporter from Northeast TV. Behind me is the South Brighton District Court. I'm reporting from the court gate on some incredible news. Just now, someone submitted a lawsuit to the court, suing 45 investment companies including Caribbean Investment Company, Louis Investment Company, St. Martin Investment Company and New Dawn Investment Company!

'I'm sure everyone is familiar with the names of these companies, as they are all very well-known investment companies in Brighton. If you were to pool the funds controlled by these companies together, I believe you could recreate a second Brighton Bank!'

'But these are all companies with terrifying amounts of energy, and they have actually been sued in court at the same time. This cannot but make people wonder what is really going on behind the lawsuit and who could have done such a thing?'

Suddenly there was a commotion behind Susan. Many reporters rushed to the court entrance. Susan saw this situation and hurriedly ran towards the court entrance with the camera, pushing her way through the crowd of reporters. She saw several people walking towards the entrance. In the camera, a familiar figure could be seen clearly: it was Member of Parliament Brooke, the largest investor in Brooke Investments.

However, today, Brook did not intend to face the reporters. Instead, a middle-aged man with little hair walked up and said, 'Hello, everyone. I am lawyer Alan. My client is not feeling well today and is not available for an interview, but I am fully responsible for this case, so if you have any questions, I can answer them on his behalf.'

With lawyer Alan's words, all the reporters suddenly felt disappointed, but fortunately, there was still another lawyer here, so everyone had to direct all their questions at him.

'Lawyer Allen, are you here today to sue 45 investment companies including Caribbean Investment Company? Why are you doing this? Is it because they have offended you in some way? I heard that your client is Brook Investment Company, is that right? Is your lawsuit because they refused any form of assistance when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy? And what kind of claim are you making in this lawsuit? Are you asking these 45 companies to bear joint and several liability? Then with so many companies, what is the amount of compensation...'

Facing the reporters' barrage of questions, Allen pressed his hands downwards to indicate silence before saying, "Please allow me to answer each question one by one."

'First of all, although I don't know where you got your information from, your information is correct. My client is Brook Investment Company, and I came to court today to sue the 45 investment companies on behalf of my client, Brighton's 45 most famous financial companies.'

Alan paused for a moment before continuing, 'As for offending...if you mean offending by not lending a helping hand when Brook Investment was in danger of bankruptcy, then that is not a valid reason for litigation and the court will not accept it. The real reason we are suing today is because of something else.'

'What is it? What is it that makes you want to sue these 45 major companies at all costs?' All the reporters asked almost at the same time.

"Without a doubt, it is their violation of the law and the spirit of business!'

Alan shouted out this answer, and then explained, 'CDS contracts, credit default swap contracts, I think many people know what these are, right? These 45 investment companies have all more or less traded in these contracts, and in the course of these transactions, my clients believe that these companies have engaged in very serious commercial fraud, which is why we had to go to court!'

Alan's tone was very serious, even a little agitated. After a while, he calmed down a bit and said, 'Finally, my client first of all of course demands that these companies apologize for their commercial fraud and pay a certain amount of compensation. The specific compensation amount is one hundred billion U.S. dollars, and the forty-five investment companies are required to bear the compensation according to their respective fraud proportions.'

Hearing the huge number of one hundred billion, all the reporters burst out in disbelief. They all looked at Alan in disbelief, as if they thought he had said the wrong number.

But Alan still held up a finger and repeated, 'I didn't say it wrong and you didn't hear it wrong. In this lawsuit, my client is seeking compensation of one hundred billion U.S. dollars.'

"But if I remember correctly, the world's richest person now has assets of only ten billion U.S. dollars. However, your client is seeking compensation of one hundred billion U.S. dollars. Aren't you suing to make the world's richest person? Or is the value ten times that of the original richest person? As a lawyer, don't you find such an exaggerated compensation amount unreasonable?'

A reporter asked, and other reporters chimed in: 'Yes, this compensation amount is outrageous. Did someone come up with it with their feet?'

Alan did not give a direct answer, but instead smiled and asked in return, 'You are all reporters, so there is a very classic case. A husband developed lung cancer due to smoking, and his wife sued the tobacco company for 20 billion. How do you account for this? According to you, Mr. and Ms. Reporter, doesn't this verdict directly sentence a world's richest man?'

'Moreover, our lawsuit is actually a class action lawsuit against the company. Even if we win the lawsuit, the compensation will be collectively owned by the company, that is, by every investor in the company, not by any one person. So everyone can rest assured.'

Alan concluded, 'But compared to this compensation of 100 billion, my client believes more in punitive damages. The purpose is not simply for money, but rather it is hoped that this huge compensation will make those companies understand their mistakes and correct them, to ensure that such mistakes will not happen again in the future, and ultimately achieve a virtuous cycle of business spirit. After all, many things cannot be bound by morality, and legal deterrence is even more necessary!'

With Allen's words, there was a loud cheer from the crowd...

With a crack, a remote control was slammed onto the table and broke in half, along with it came a curse.

'Those damned scum, the dregs abandoned by God, all go to hell! What a claim for 100 billion? How can he say that? And that bastard Brook. He actually betrayed me and followed that Chinese guy to cause me trouble. They are all a bunch of shit. I must kill him! I know Brook is still the chairman of the company, without his nod, this lawsuit is not even established!'

In the midst of his rant, a glass was smashed on the table and shattered, echoing the remote control as if the two were crying out to each other.

'Sir, what's wrong? I heard a terrible noise outside the door. What made you so angry?'

Suddenly the door opened and a middle-aged man hurried in. He was surprised to see the situation on the table, and seeing this news so angry, there would be no one else but Kristof, the head of the Adams family.

Christo looked up and pointed at the TV, saying, 'My butler, I ask you to first open your eyes and take a good look at what this news is about. The Chinese guy has actually taken 45 investment companies to court, including Caribbean Investment, Louis Investment, St. Martin Investment and New Dawn Investment, and is claiming 100 billion from them. What do you think he's up to?'

The butler did not rush to say anything, but instead turned his head and stared at the TV for a while before saying, 'Sir, it's just a lawyer. I don't think his words are very convincing. Even if they were, I don't think the court would support him in this 100 billion claim. It's just not reasonable.'

In the face of the butler's reply, Christo suddenly lowered his head and laughed. He did not rush to say anything, but instead stood up and went to the window, pulled back the curtains with a forceful motion, and then said with emotion, 'My old friend, do you really think this lawsuit is just that simple? If it were just this claim for $100 billion, I don't need to get involved, the team of lawyers hired by those 45 investment companies alone would be enough to deal with it. From the district court all the way to the Supreme Court, they would take any piece of evidence and argue against it bit by bit in court. This lawsuit will not end in three to five years.

Christo stopped suddenly when he got to this point, and continued after a while: 'But what I'm really worried about is something else behind the lawsuit.'

'If it's not the lawsuit, what else could it be?' the butler asked, puzzled.

At the butler's question, Christo gave a bitter smile and said to the butler, 'My old friend, I've known since twenty years ago that you can be too smart sometimes, but not smart enough at other times.'

'If you were me, and one day your boss came to you with a great project and told you that if you made a mistake and failed, he would kick you out of the company, would you just do the project honestly, or would you find a way to do the project even better, and find a way to do it yourself, and become your own boss and get rid of your old boss?' Christo asked.

The butler did not answer, because he knew that Christo already had the answer.

Sure enough, Christo then said, 'Ambition is the devil that exists in everyone's heart, and that Chinese person is the devil of devils!'

'So, perhaps the defendant is only suing the 45 investment companies, but I believe that he is definitely coming after me in the end!' Christo said very confidently, but he never imagined that at this moment, Zhou Ming, who had already returned to the car, gave a different answer.

'If I'm not wrong, Mr. Christo in Adams Castle must be watching this news right now, and he will definitely think that my lawsuit today is aimed at him. But I can only say that he is thinking too much, because if it were just him, I wouldn't care. What I really want to target is only Brighton Bank and the Adams family, which has a history of more than 300 years. That's all,' said Ming.

Lawyers Alan and Brooke were sitting next to Zhou Ming, and although they were used to Zhou Ming's shocking remarks, they were still surprised to hear this one.

'I think if Cristo heard this, he would definitely smash something, even though this behaviour is so uncouth,' Brooke speculated.

Zhou Ming shrugged and said, 'I think it's probably because he himself is not cultivated enough...'

Zhou Ming wanted to say something else, but then his phone suddenly rang. He answered it immediately, and it was Lin Muqing calling. He thought Lin Muqing was going to ask about the lawsuit they had filed in court that day, but instead he heard a piece of news that took him by surprise.

'Zhou Ming, I've got some bad news. I just got a call from China!' Lin Muqing said anxiously.