Unpaid Wages (2-4)
“How is it?”
When Wang Yosang was half-dead, the lawyer from the workers’ side came to see him. Then he threw him a lifeline.
“If President Wang personally guarantees the payment of wages, we will agree to lift the seizure on raw materials, consumables, and finished products.”
“Personally guarantee?”
“Yes.”
Hearing that, Wang Yosang realized that an opportunity had come.
‘These guys are scared.’
If the company goes bankrupt, wages and everything else become meaningless. Naturally, they would not receive wages or severance pay. So, they were reluctantly trying to back down.
‘This is why these guys are fools.’
After all, he had no assets. Even if he guaranteed it, if he didn’t pay, it wouldn’t matter. The car he drove was borrowed from the company, and the house he lived in was also purchased on behalf of the company. From appliances to everything. No matter how much they seized him, it wouldn’t mean anything.
“Hmm, what if I don’t want to?”
“Excuse me?”
The woman’s face turned flustered.
“We can hold out. If we go bankrupt, well, there’s nothing we can do about it. Isn’t that right? Didn’t you say you were ready to fight to the death?”
“T-that’s….”
The young lawyer was at a loss for words.
‘Hmph, he’s still young and inexperienced.’
His face revealed his thoughts in an instant, clearly showing his lack of experience.
“I want to save the company too, but if you make unreasonable demands, I can’t help it.”
“Is it really that hard to give a personal guarantee?”
“Strictly speaking, I’m just a shareholder and an employed manager. I have no liability for compensation.”
Wang Yosang’s firm words left Minshia greatly shocked.
“Then what conditions do you want?”
“I want the seizure of the bank account lifted.”
“That….”
Once the seizure of raw materials, consumables, and finished products is lifted, the only remaining weakness is the bank account. But asking to lift that?
“If you don’t want to, just say so. I don’t care if I go bankrupt anyway.”
“This is your company.”
“I’m just a shareholder and a manager.”
“…….”
“Don’t want to?”
“Let’s discuss it.”
“Take your time, take your time.”
Wang Yosang smiled victoriously.
“Uhaha, you fools.”
In the end, two days later, they had no choice but to agree and back down. And as the victor, Wang Yosang smiled in triumph and quickly started the factory. Now, even if the due diligence team came, there would be no problem, and the company would return to normal. He could live like he used to.
“Uhaha, this is why those who live off oil can’t survive.”
While he was celebrating his victory, Noh Hyeongjin was also celebrating his victory by receiving the settlement document.
“I don’t understand. That guy has nothing.”
The reason they couldn’t get anything from the lawsuit in the first place was that he had nothing. But suddenly, Noh Hyeongjin asked for a personal repayment condition, and Minshia had no choice but to protest strongly.
“This can be seen as a one-step retreat for a ten-step advance.”
“This isn’t a retreat; it’s a complete loss. If we shake a little more….”
“If we shake more, the company will fall. When dealing with an enemy, you have to leave a way out so they won’t attack until the end.”
“Still, that’s not right.”
Honestly, Wang Yosang’s payment statement, which had no money at all, had no effect.
“Is that really the case?”
Noh Hyeongjin learned two of Wang Yosang’s biggest secrets the moment Wang Yosang grabbed him by the collar. And with those secrets, he decided to dig a trap from which he could never escape.
“If he were a proper person, I wouldn’t go this far.”
In fact, originally, he just wanted to receive the wages and end it. But Wang Yosang’s actions were too displeasing.
“I will show you the miracle of law.”
“The miracle of law?”
“Ta-da!”
At Noh Hyeongjin’s words, Minshia looked confused.
Two weeks later, Noh Hyeongjin called Minshia and other stakeholders to a certain bank in Seoul.
“Here, we will make our final bet. Today will be the last bet.”
“The last bet?”
“I will make you rich.”
“Rich?”
“Ah, let me correct that. Not rich, but at least I will make it so that your efforts so far are not in vain.”
“Hyungjin, you said you would show us the magic of law, and this is a bank?”
“Yes.”
“Are you kidding?”
Someone said irritably. They had entrusted everything, only to have him bring back Wang Yosang’s useless payment statement. Now, there was no way to receive anything.
“Follow me.”
Noh Hyeongjin led them to the bank.
As a group of people entered the bank, the bank staff and security were extremely tense. Noh Hyeongjin presented the payment statement guaranteed by Wang Yosang and the property declaration order sent by the court.
“Is that the property declaration order?”
Minshia recognized it immediately.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
A property declaration order allows the court to check the accounts at the bank if the debtor is hiding assets.
“What does that mean? It doesn’t mean anything at all.”
“That’s right; he doesn’t have any accounts.”
“Yes, he doesn’t have any accounts legally.”
The people looked confused. However, the staff member who was watching became troubled.
“Not all of them. There are too many.”
“Then only I, Minshia, and these four can go.”
Five people stepped forward at the incomprehensible words. The staff member went through several verification procedures and took them to the innermost part of the bank. There, instead of the vault they knew, there was a huge door leading to another vault.
“What is this?”
“This is called a rental vault.”
“A rental vault?”
“Yes, it’s generally used to store valuables in the bank. When the bank rents out a vault, the renter stores important items in it.”
“Is that a thing?”
“Generally, a property declaration order only requires the disclosure of owned accounts. However, since this vault is rented, it is not included in the general order. Therefore, when applying for a declaration order, it must be mentioned separately, including the rental vault.”
“Wait a minute!”
At that statement, Minshia’s face instantly hardened. That meant there was an important rental vault belonging to Wang Yosang inside.
“Could there be jewelry or something in there?”
“Even if there is, 1.8 billion won might be… a bit excessive, right?”
The people entered with concern. After confirming that the bank staff, court staff, and official lawyer Minshia were accompanying them, the staff opened the rental vault. The people who looked at the large rental vault were filled with anticipation, but what came out was a 007 bag filled with papers.
“What is this?”
“It’s not money or jewelry, right?”
Seeing that what came out was neither jewelry nor treasure, the people were disappointed. However, Minshia’s mouth dropped open at the sight.
“Could it be!”
“Correct. Bearer bonds.”
“Bearer bonds?”
“These are securities that do not have a name written on them. Usually, we refer to shareholders, right? The shareholder refers to the person who holds these securities. Wang Yosang claims to be a professional manager, but ultimately, to elect him, the decision of the shareholders is necessary.”
“Don’t tell me….”
“Yes, the shareholder itself is Wang Yosang, so there was no obstacle to electing himself.”
“What does that mean….”
“Stocks are assets. In other words, this is hidden property of Wang Yosang personally, not the company’s property. Bearer bonds do not require registration of who the owner is. However, since it came from Wang Yosang’s rental vault, it is Wang Yosang’s property.”
“Wang Yosang’s? Then what about the claims we have?”
Clearly, Wang Yosang had agreed to pay, so that was clearly a claim against Wang Yosang. And if that right were exercised, it would naturally be possible to seize these stocks.
“These stocks are now ours.”
As soon as Noh Hyeongjin confirmed the stocks, he began to distribute them according to the amount of money. The distribution was based on the current stock price of 18,000 won, and as a result, even after distributing all the stocks, most of the money still had to be received from Wang Yosang.
“So, this was your plan?”
This happened because Noh Hyeongjin shook the company and drove the stock price down to a worthless level. If the original price had been around 200,000 won, even a portion of that would have been enough to pay the wages, so Wang Yosang would have lost a significant amount of stock but could still maintain control of the management. However, with the current stock price of 18,000 won, it was far from enough, so all the stocks had to be distributed, and as a result, not a single share was left for Wang Yosang. In other words, he could no longer secure management rights.
“But even if it’s 18,000 won, that doesn’t mean it’s money, right?”
“If it doesn’t mean money, we can make it into money.”
“He’s finished… he’s done for….”
Wang Yosang sat down at home, mumbling. His most valuable treasure, the stocks, had been taken away by the employees. Yet, his debts still remained.
“Dad, what’s going on!”
“Dear, please say something!”
Wang Yosang and his family looked as if their souls had been sucked out in an instant. They were staring blankly, as if they had lost their minds.
“Is this even possible? That was Dad’s company!”
The eviction notice that came from the company. In other words, he was not only dismissed from his managerial position based on the resolution of the shareholders’ meeting, but he also received an order to leave the house that was registered under the company’s name. Even everything from the car to the appliances was purchased with company money.
“This… this can’t be!”
He thought he had hidden everything. But how did they find it? No, that didn’t matter. He had lost everything because of it.
“Dad! Do something!”
At his daughter’s scream, he snapped back to reality.
“Yeah… it’s too early to give up.”
What he had hidden was not just the stocks. He had also buried all the dividends he had received and the funds he had embezzled from the company. He couldn’t keep that much money in a vault, and if he kept it in the bank, the employees could seize it.
“Let’s go get that money.”
The money he had embezzled over the years was nearing 10 billion won. That was enough to make a comeback.
He hurriedly drove to that place. However, when he arrived, he could only stand there blankly, staring at the site. A piece of land that no one cared about. A piece of land that was completely useless. He thought it was the perfect place to hide money, so he bought it and made a secret vault inside. But there, bulldozers were moving around, and excavators were digging the ground.
“What is this?”
Wang Yosang staggered toward the place where his secret vault was supposed to be. But instead of a secret vault, there were only piles of collapsed dirt.
“Excuse me. This is a construction site, so please leave.”
The worker who was doing the construction tried to chase him away.
“Construction? What construction! This isn’t a place for construction!”
“Well, I don’t know. I heard the owning company is building some kind of structure.”
“A building?”
“They said it’s for employee recreational facilities or something? Anyway, they started construction like that.”
“They… started?”
Wang Yosang trembled in fear for some reason.
“More than 10 billion won was found underground? No owner could be found. In the end, the company hit the jackpot, right?”
At that remark, Wang Yosang held his head.
“Uwaaa! This is a dream!”
“120 billion won.”
Noh Hyeongjin smiled as he looked at the money. That was his second secret. It was the money buried underground.
“Are you not going to ask for this back later?”
A man participating in the shareholders’ meeting asked anxiously. Suddenly, an enormous dividend was distributed to him.
“You won’t be able to ask for it back.”
“Why not?”
“First, if you ask for this, you have no choice but to admit that you embezzled the money. Then, as a result, tax evasion issues will arise, and combined with the embezzled taxes, punitive taxation, and criminal penalties, along with the wages you owe, it exceeds 120 billion won. So, even if you ask for it back, you’ll just end up in prison, and the situation will only get worse.”
“Ah!”