Chapter 79 - Director Halia Feng (1/2)
After Halia agreed to the mission, Sean led her out of the office to give her a briefing.
”I know you've been through a lot, Halia. Let's find a quiet place to talk,” he said thoughtfully.
Halia glanced at the prim and proper man in front of her. As usual, his hair was neatly styled and he was wearing a suit. Halia had only ever seen him during work situations, so she had never seen him in anything but a suit, but she knew underneath it all, there was a rough and passionate side to him. She had experienced it first hand. Halia quickly shook her head to brush away the awkward memory from the lab. She still didn't know what happened that day, but she was hoping Sean would forget about it.
Halia followed Sean quietly as he led her to the SPU gym. He then walked into one of the private training rooms. There were some gym mats on the floor as well as weights, skipping ropes and other exercise equipment along the wall.
Sean sat down on the floor and gestured for Halia to sit opposite him.
”Halia, this is a case we've been following for many years. It's regarding money laundering,” Sean explained as he opened up a file of doc.u.ments and spread them out on the floor.
”As you know, gambling is illegal in China, but one of the best ways to launder money is through casinos. So, it's very common for criminals to travel to Macau, the Philippines and even Australia to launder their money at one of their casinos. It's an ongoing problem that may never be truly eliminated.”
”The Chinese government has tried multiple methods to prevent this from happening, including limiting the amount of money people can take out of the country and limiting how much money they can withdraw overseas. However, that hasn't prevented people from finding other methods.”
”This is where you come in. There is a charity ball happening this week in Hong Kong and big names from China, Hong Kong and Macau are invited. This is a feeding ground for junket operators that lure high rollers to particular casinos for a commission. Junket operators are legitimate businesses, but some of these operators work like illegal banks, allowing their VIPs to deposit money in China and then giving them the option to withdraw money overseas that exceeds the limit set by the Chinese government. Whether intentional or not, this facilitates money laundering.”
”So, I need you to mingle at the ball and see if you can get any information about the operators that are offering this illegal activity. We need names, contact information, anything you can get.”
Halia sighed and nodded her head.
”What's my cover?” she asked.