The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 138: Unity Before the Fall
Falsifying financial reports, once any listed company faced such an accusation, even if one moment earlier it had still been a “golden stock” worshipped by the stock market, after such a thing happened, it needed only one second to become a “junk stock.”
Junk stock. Worthless stock. The entire market’s understanding of a listed company’s operating condition mainly came from the financial report that company issued every cycle.
Inside would be detailed operating conditions, and at the end, an accurate conclusion: how much money they had made during this period, how much they had lost, how many assets they had, how effective the operation had been, and so on and so forth.
People outside the company, even people inside the company, might not necessarily have a complete understanding of a company. Add in the fact that this was a society built on good faith, and people were willing to believe these listed companies would not commit such vile acts as altering data. So very few people questioned whether a listed company’s financial figures were correct.
They also lacked the channels to question it. Even if they felt something was not quite normal, they had no way or opportunity to solve the mystery in their hearts.
But it had to be said that, for a listed company, financial fraud was the equivalent of standing at the mouth of an active volcano. Even if the fall did not kill you, the heat would.
After Neo said those words, many sounds immediately came through the telephone receivers. He could sense that these people were all in a very poor state at the moment, but he did not care, because he and his wife’s father were no longer the company’s largest shareholders.
If something truly went wrong, the father-in-law and son-in-law pair certainly could not escape, but the other shareholders would not fare well either. They too would have to face bankruptcy. That was also why Neo firmly believed that even if he said it out loud, these people would not inform on him.
“Neo, Alban, what you’ve done is a crime!”
“I’m going to report you!”
Soon, the Ristowan Group boardroom’s largest shareholder roared through the phone in a voice that had lost control. One could hear that, aside from being hoarse with rage, his voice was also trembling.
Neo appeared very calm. His voice even carried a joking tone as he answered, “You’re welcome to hang up now and call to report that I falsified the financial reports.”
“I’m sure the Federation Financial Crimes Bureau, the FBI, the IRS, and the media will be very interested in your report.”
The Federation Financial Crimes Bureau was subordinate to the Federation FBI, a branch institution that operated independently and investigated and cracked down on all financial crimes.
Neo’s words made the largest shareholder unexpectedly fall silent. After roughly four or five seconds of silence, other members of the boardroom immediately began advising him. If this man’s head failed him for a moment and he actually did it, everyone would be ruined by him.
After a brief round of persuasion, the major shareholder had only one demand. “You must explain why you did this. If you cannot convince me, I will immediately report your illegal conduct...”
The sentence sounded extremely fierce, but in reality, it was only a step down with a threat attached. Neo, of course, knew how to walk down that step.
“Of course, gentlemen. That is exactly what I want to tell everyone, because it concerns the measures we will take next.”
“In fact, starting three years ago, Ristowan’s profits began shrinking rapidly, and around two years ago, the first losses appeared...”
Put simply, at that time, President Neo had discovered some problems in Ristowan. Capital flow had slowed, more and more goods were piling up in inventory, and with people holding less money and their consumption ability beginning to decline, a corporate group with over a hundred brands would inevitably face the same problems as those small firms.
Neo, Alban, and Neo’s own confidants believed this was not some simple phenomenon. At their request, the Finance Department altered the financial report for the first time, turning a loss into continued profit, and even producing a point of growth.
Neo, having made that decision, quickly obtained the result he wanted. Ristowan Group’s stock continued rising in the stock market. The increase in ticker price made the losses seem insignificant.
In his own words, in the annual summary report, the sharp rise in the corporate group’s overall market value driven by the increase in stock price was enough to offset the operational losses.
It was a dose of poison. Under the condition that physical operations were continuously losing money, they used the constantly rising ticker price to cover the fact of poor management. On the surface, an increase in the company’s ticker price looked like a good thing, but all of it had been built on false data.
By now, two years of financial falsification were enough to make Ristowan collapse in an instant. Neo did not conceal anything. In relatively cold and cruel words, he told all the shareholders that he and his father-in-law Alban had already cashed out almost half the shares in their hands.
In other words, the shares they currently held had long since become insufficient to let them control their present positions.
Facing the shareholders’ anger and curses, Neo and Alban did not care. They even felt a little pleased.
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