I. Launching the Investigation
Following the news of Lin Wanqing's surrender, the atmosphere within the city's police station was serious and tense. The chief personally issued orders to establish a special investigation team to thoroughly investigate Gu Yanting's potential involvement in commercial crimes and a series of illegal activities, including malicious manipulation of public opinion. Criminal Investigation Team Captain Zhang Feng was appointed to this critical mission, leading his experienced officers to quickly engage in this complex and challenging investigation.
Zhang Feng was acutely aware of the immense responsibility of this mission. He sat in the conference room, his cold gaze sweeping over his team members. "Comrades," he said, "there are many suspicious points surrounding Lin Wanqing's surrender. We must thoroughly investigate all of Gu Yanting's illegal activities and reveal the truth to the public. This investigation may face many difficulties and obstacles, but we must not back down."
The investigation team's first step was to conduct a detailed interrogation of Lin Wanqing. Lin Wanqing looked haggard, but her eyes revealed a hint of determination. She knew that every word she spoke could be the key to uncovering the truth. "Officer, I surrendered because Gu Yanting threatened me. He said if I didn't take full responsibility, he would harm my family. His business methods are extremely ruthless. To gain profits, he bribed officials, forged contracts, and used these methods to squeeze out competitors and monopolize the market. Moreover, he used his media connections to maliciously manipulate public opinion, leading the public to misinterpret events unfavorable to him."
While diligently recording Lin Wanqing's statement, Zhang Feng pondered the direction of the investigation. Based on the information provided by Lin Wanqing, Gu Yanting's crimes were wide-ranging and covert; finding conclusive evidence would be no easy task.
II. Investigation of Clues to Commercial Crime
The investigation team first focused on several large companies under Gu Yanting's control. Officers split into several groups to conduct a comprehensive and meticulous review of these companies' financial statements and contracts. In the financial records of a company called "Ruihua Group," Officer Li Yang discovered some unusual fund flows.
“Captain Zhang, look at this money. It has flowed to an unknown small company multiple times in just one month, and the amount is huge. According to the preliminary investigation, the legal representative of this small company has a close relationship with Gu Yanting, and it is very likely that he is using it as a front to transfer assets or conduct illegal transactions,” Li Yang said, pointing to the data on the computer screen.
Zhang Feng leaned closer to the screen, examined it carefully, and said, "Continue to dig deeper, find out the specific use and destination of this fund, and see if we can find evidence related to commercial crimes, such as bribery and money laundering."
Meanwhile, another team of officers, while reviewing the contract files of Gu Yanting's company, discovered a contract related to a government project tender that showed obvious signs of forgery. In this contract, Gu Yanting's company won the bid at a price lower than the normal market price, but the contract terms were extremely unfavorable to the government.
“Captain Zhang, this contract is very suspicious. We compared the information with other bidding companies, and Gu Yanting’s company simply doesn’t have the advantage of winning the bid at such a low price. Moreover, some of the signatures and seals on the contract look forged,” Officer Wang Qiang said, holding up the original contract.
Zhang Feng frowned. "Send this contract to the technical department for authentication to determine its authenticity as a forgery. At the same time, investigate the relevant government officials involved in this bidding to see if there was any bribery involved."
As the investigation deepened, more and more clues about Gu Yanting's commercial crimes surfaced, but these clues were not enough to form a complete chain of evidence to bring him to justice.
III. Investigation into Manipulation of Public Opinion
While investigating commercial crimes, the police also launched an investigation into Gu Yanting's malicious manipulation of public opinion. Officers contacted major media outlets, retrieving recent news reports and online comments related to Gu Yanting.
Police officer Liu Min, who was in charge of the public opinion investigation, discovered that after some incidents that were unfavorable to Gu Yanting occurred, a large number of online trolls suddenly appeared, publishing statements that distorted the facts, defamed the victims, and guided public opinion to be favorable to Gu Yanting.
"Team Leader Zhang, we used technical means to track the IP addresses of these online trolls and found that most of them came from several online public relations companies. And these companies have close ties with Gu Yanting's businesses," Liu Min reported.
Zhang Feng nodded. "Immediately investigate these online public relations companies, find evidence of their cooperation with Gu Yanting, and see if there are any explicit instructions or financial transactions to maliciously manipulate public opinion."
Liu Min led her team to action swiftly. After several days of arduous investigation, they finally found crucial evidence—a cooperation agreement between an online public relations company and Gu Yanting's company. The agreement explicitly stated that they would use online public opinion manipulation to resolve negative news about Gu Yanting and guide public opinion. Simultaneously, there were related financial transfer records proving that Gu Yanting had paid a huge sum of money to manipulate public opinion.
However, Gu Yanting was extremely discreet in his manipulation of public opinion. This agreement and transfer records alone are not enough to fully prove his crimes; more evidence is needed to support it.
IV. Encountering Obstacles
Just as the police investigation was making some progress, various obstacles arose one after another. First, there was pressure from various parties. Some forces with interests related to Gu Yanting began to exert pressure on the police through various channels, attempting to interfere with the normal progress of the investigation.
"Zhang Feng, haven't you been too aggressive in investigating Gu Yanting's case lately? Someone from above has told us to stop," the deputy director said to Zhang Feng with a serious expression.
Zhang Feng's heart sank, but he replied firmly, "Deputy Director, we have already obtained a lot of clues, and Gu Yanting has indeed committed serious illegal and criminal acts. We cannot give up the investigation because of external pressure; that would be irresponsible to the law and the public."
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