Chapter 230 Sharpening the Knife
After saying this, the audience in the auditorium was stunned.
This trial of big names is just a trial of big names. Why is it suddenly involved with Fuchs Film Company?
But soon, everyone suddenly woke up. They seemed to realize that David's 'making a big fuss' at the Oscars and arresting so many big names, he probably didn't really want to do anything to these big names. Sample.
But I want to use these big names as an introduction to target the eight major electronic giants in Hollywood!
While thinking, Nicole on the stage spoke up. She asked: "Director McCartney, do you have any explanation for this?"
"Your Honor, Director David, this is pure nonsense. Talking about it, our supervisor McCartney is completely unaware of exaggerated contracts and yin and yang contracts, and this phenomenon does not exist in the movie "Independence Day".
McCarney! He didn't speak out immediately. The one who spoke out was Uriah, a lawyer sent by the legal department of Fox Film Company.
David winked at Bucky in the gallery. Bucky immediately took out a stack of documents from his briefcase and handed them to him in front of the court. He then lifted the stack of documents He stood up and said: "Your Honor, I have collected a piece of information that can prove that the total cost of the movie 'Independence Day' was only US$50 million, but in the final report, it was reported as US$75 million. Let me ask, what is the extra cost? Where did the $25 million go? "
"Why is not a cent reported or any information entered in my IRS tax system? "
As soon as he finished speaking, there was another uproar in the auditorium.
If what David said is true, it means that the $25 million in extra funds for the movie "Independence Day" did not go through the IRS tax system, so this matter is serious. .
Here, the court staff presented the information in David's hand, and Nicola looked at it carefully.
After watching carefully for ten minutes, Nicola put down the documents and looked at the dock: "According to the information submitted by Director David, [Independence Day 】The overall calculation of this movie is indeed 75 million, but at least 25 million of the funds have not been tax declared or entered into the tax system. How do you explain this to Director McCartney? "
" Your Honor, I wonder if you can let me see this information?”
This time it was Uriah who made the request.
"Okay."
The staff handed the information to Uriah, and Uriah looked at it carefully for more than ten minutes, but in the end he looked relaxed and said : "Your Honor, this information was only obtained through oral narration and purchasing information at the time, and it was obtained in less than a day. It was too long ago. It is normal for there to be discrepancies. I am afraid it cannot be used as ironclad evidence."< br>
"It doesn't matter, Your Majesty, I still have witnesses. Please allow me to appear in court to testify."
David continued.
"Allow!"
On the left, there were five people walking out this time. After these five people came to the witness box, one of them, a slightly older one, said: "Your Honor, my name is Graf. I am the director of the props department of the "Independence Day" crew. The props and scene layout of this movie cost about 20 million U.S. dollars."
"Your Honor, I am a member of the props department of Independence Day. I can confirm that."
"I can confirm that too."
"And I..."
The five people who came up all gave unified testimonies.
At this time, Uriah frowned.
"Your Honor, please apply for another group of witnesses to appear in court."
"Permission."
David waved his hand, indicating that they could go down. Soon, the passage Another group of witnesses emerged.
"Your Honor, my name is Bei Liqi. I am the makeup team leader of the movie "Independence Day". Although 15 years have passed, I still remember clearly that the budget given to our department at that time was 5 million US dollars. I I have also retained a cashier's details at that time, please check..."
"Your honor, my name is Thompson, and I was a member of the makeup team at that time. I can also testify to this. The budget is indeed 5 million."
"Your Honor..."
After Belic finished speaking, the other witnesses in the makeup team also agreed.
After saying this, David waved his hand to indicate that they could go down, just like before.
Then, another group of witnesses came up.
In the next forty minutes, almost all departments of the film’s photography department, lighting department, and special effects department came to court to testify.
As these people finished testifying and handed over some of the financial information they had retained at the time, McCartney's face gradually turned pale in the dock, and his figure appeared unconsciously. There was a slight tremor.
There is no other reason.
Currently, various departments on [Independence Day] have reported their own expenditures, and all the expenditures added up are about 50 million, no more, no less, so where did the remaining 25 million go? , how to explain?
When the information appeared before, it could be said that the age and the amount of information were inconsistent, but now that so many people have come forward to testify, and it is so detailed, it cannot be that everyone has remembered it wrong, right?
Since it is confirmed that there is an extra 25 million gold, and there is no record of tax declaration, based on this alone, let alone him, even the Fuchs Film Company behind him is afraid Can't wash it off.
"Defendant McCartney, based on the witness testimony and the sum of these materials, the reported amount of funds is indeed only 50 million. How do you explain it?"
Nicola shouted again Questioned, but McCartney remained silent, not knowing how to explain.
The lawyer Uriah standing next to him also lost his voice when faced with this kind of testimony and evidence.
But actually you can't blame her.
Because the IRS arrested the person just last night and sent them to court today, she didn't have much time to prepare.
What's more, how did she know that the IRS actually had so much information? In the face of so many people and evidence, no matter how rich her experience, top-notch eloquence, and quick thinking she was, It can only be like being stuck in a quagmire, with nowhere to go.
Seeing that the other party did not speak, Nicola did not intend to care about him. She planned to deal with these big shots first, then turned to look at Will and asked: "Mr. Will, since just now Judging from the testimonies of some witnesses from the crew of [Independence Day], although you were not informed, the remuneration you received at the time was inflated, so it seems that you were informed..."
"Judge Your Excellency, I really didn’t know. Moreover, they offered me a higher salary at the time. I’m not a fool. How could I refuse it? As for the part they exaggerated after giving me a higher salary, that’s because they didn’t pay taxes. You can’t blame me for what happened to them, I’m really completely ignorant!”
Will was anxious, because he knew very well that in his case, the so-called knowledge or ignorance was basically a vague concept.
It can be said that if the judge subjectively thinks that you are informed, then you are informed; if the judge thinks that you are not informed, then you are ignorant.
This is why many prisoners will take risks to bribe the judge, because sometimes the judge's preference is really important.
Nicola turned to look at David, and David came under the judge's seat and whispered a few words to her before retreating.
Only then did Nicola speak out: "Mr. Will, based on the stability of the tax law, as long as you plead guilty, you can be exempted from criminal punishment, but you need to pay a fine. In addition, Pearl The same goes for you, Ms. Li, do you agree?”
When Will heard that he could be exempted from criminal punishment, he was instantly overjoyed. Without hesitation, he said directly: "Your Excellency, if I can be exempted from criminal punishment, then I admit this crime and I am willing to pay the fine!"< br>
"Your Majesty, I agree!"
Zhu Li is not a fool. Now that the charges have been determined, if she continues to resist, there will really be no good fruits to be gained, and now she only You need to pay a fine to avoid criminal punishment, which is a blessing among misfortunes.
"Okay then, each of you will pay a tax evasion penalty of 30 million yuan. Is that no problem?"
When they heard the figure of 30 million yuan, the corners of their mouths twitched.
Although they are top celebrities, US$30 million is definitely not a small amount of money for them.
Under the pain, Will couldn't help but said: "Your Honor, 30 million...isn't it a bit too much? Can it be less?"
Nicola's face turned cold. , reprimanded: "You have to figure it out. It has been more than ten or twenty years since you failed to report the taxes. You have been in arrears for so long, and now you are exempted from criminal punishment. Is 30 million too much?"< br>
"This...that's okay."
Although it still hurts a little, when I think about spending 30 million to avoid criminal penalties, it is quite worth it.
After all, for a celebrity like them, this little money can be made back in just half a year. If they are really punished, their careers will be ruined.
"Okay, since you agree, you can leave now, but remember that the tax must be paid within 3 days."
Hearing that he was released in court, Zhuli and Will breathed a long sigh of relief, but after leaving the dock, they did not choose to leave, but sat in the auditorium. After all, they had suffered a heavy punishment. If they could see the rest of the people If you get the same result as them, your psychology will naturally be more balanced.
"Mr. Hugh Jeckman, I now suspect you of tax evasion. You..."
"Your Honor, if you can give me the same punishment as Will and Zhu Li, then I You can also plead guilty immediately!" Before Nicola could finish her words, what was surprising was that Uncle Wolf Jiekeman didn't even want to argue, and immediately planned to admit defeat.
But soon, everyone felt relieved.
Again, few of the old movie stars who became famous in Hollywood in the last century were completely innocent.
Since David was able to dig out the tax evasion history of Zhu Li and these big names for many years, it is normal for him to be able to dig out Jie Keman.
So, with Will and Zhuli having learned from the past, it is reasonable for Jie Keman to retreat despite the difficulties. .
"This..."
Nicola was a little undecided and turned her attention to David.
"Mr. Zuckerman, there is no rush to plead guilty. Let us go through the process first. Come on, invite witnesses..."
"..."
A hours later.
After the display of countless witnesses and evidence, one fact was once again confirmed.
That is the movie [X-Men]. Like the previous movie [Independence Day], the production cost was exaggerated by 25 million US dollars.
As for this exaggerated cost of 25 million US dollars, Fuchs Film Company at that time had already obtained funds from investors, but it had not gone through the tax system.
So it’s obvious.
This movie also involves the issue of a tax evasion structure that exaggerates costs.
Although the previous Independence Day and the current "X-Men" starred Weir and Jackman respectively, the producers and producers of these two films were Fuchs Film Company.
Now that the two leading actors have been severely punished, how can we, as producers of the film, not be implicated?
Of course this is impossible!
Everyone in the auditorium realized that David’s knife against Fuchs Film Company seemed to have been sharpened, and blood would probably come out next!
"Mr. Jeckman, now you can plead guilty!"
Seeing that the knife had been sharpened, David stopped talking nonsense.
"Okay, I plead guilty, Mr. Judge, and I am also willing to pay the fine!"
"Well, next..."
"..."
< br>Fuchs Film Company.
"Fake Squid, what's going on? How could they find out such detailed information and personnel about these two movies?"
"Although I don't know how the Western Suburbs Bureau found out so many former But the punishment for these two movies and the two leading actors is obviously trying to scare us. I think he will definitely blame us next!”
"Now these two films have been charged with crimes. As a producer, our company must not be able to clean up this. The trouble is a bit big..."
Although the court hearing was not broadcast live, Many people were invited to observe, so it was not difficult for the senior executives of Fuchs Film Company to know the real-time situation at the court hearing.
When they learned that [Independence Day] and [X-Men], two movies produced by their company, were charged with crimes, everyone became nervous.
In addition to Fuchs, the other seven major film companies also learned the outcome of the trial immediately, and they were also nervous.
But the most tense among them is undoubtedly the Disney Film Company.
The eight major Hollywood film companies are actually the collective name of the last century. After so many years of changes in times, the eight major film companies are no longer the real big eight.
Just because of their historical status and influence in Hollywood for many years, the outside world still calls them the eight major film companies.
For example, the two major film companies, United Artists Film Company and Rice Cake Film Company, were once merged into one company, but were later operated separately.
Another example is Fox Film Company, which was acquired by Disney in 2019 with a huge sum of money. It is a subsidiary of the Disney Group together with Disney Film Company.
It is precisely because Fuchs Film Company and Disney Pictures are currently both subsidiaries of the Disney Group, so once Fuchs suffers, Disney Pictures is also likely to suffer Directly implicated, that’s why Disney’s current senior management is more nervous than other companies.
No one at the court hearing is aware of the situation of the major film companies at this time.
After the trial of Jockman's case, in the following time, many big names such as Tom Hanks, the eldest cousin, the widowed sister, and Cameron were also tried one by one.
However, as soon as their names were called, they were very sensible, just like Jockman before. They stopped talking nonsense and did not defend themselves. They all chose to plead guilty and accept the fine.
Obviously, they are also aware of their own affairs.
What’s more, there is an example of Zhuli there.
Zhu Li was not only fined a huge sum of money because of David's insistence, but the most embarrassing thing was that such a big scandal broke out, which was a loss to her grandma's family.
Although these big names are usually glamorous, the water in the entertainment industry is messier than anywhere else, and everyone has a dark history to some extent.
They didn’t want to be exposed by David in front of the court. That would be a huge embarrassment.
However, it is worth mentioning that if they plead guilty and accept a fine, they will be fine.
But because a series of films such as [Independence Day], [X-Men], [Titanic] and [Star Wars] all have exaggerated funds, anyone with a discerning eye can now see that the spearhead is Unified focus on Fuchs Film Company.
However, this also caused doubts among many people who did not know the truth.
What is the purpose of Fuchs Film Company in making so many films that exaggerate the cost?
If it is used for money laundering, this doesn’t seem right.
After all, as time goes by and enters the modern era, Fuchs has grown stronger, and supervision has gradually become stricter. Why should such a large company take such risks?
But they didn’t let them think about it for too long. Next, David gave the answer.
"Your Honor, after looking at these personal and material evidences and the guilty pleas of big names, the result is very obvious. Before and in the following years of the 20th century, Fuchs, in order to obtain highways, The development has led to serious financial fraud, tax evasion and other cases.”
“So I even have reason to suspect that in 2018, Fuchs Film Company was finally taken over by Disney in order to increase its market value. Ni’s acquisition of US$71.3 billion definitely contains major violations and illegal operations!”
David’s words can be said to have caused thousands of waves with one stone.
Forget it when it comes to Fuchs Film Company.
And now it actually involves the Disney Group.
You know, the Disney Group currently not only owns the leading subsidiary in the American film and television industry, but also is known as the leader in the world's entertainment industry because it involves many comprehensive entertainment projects such as Disneyland. Leading enterprises.
So far, this giant ranks 145th among the Fortune 500 companies, with a market value of US$270 billion.
If such a giant company is also involved in tax evasion and financial fraud, it will definitely be a big earthquake for the entertainment industry.
But then again.
Many people instantly understood why Fuchs chose a film that contained a lot of fakes and exaggerated costs.
Because this is the only way to do it.
Only can the company's accounts look good, and then it can achieve rapid development, then go public, and finally be targeted by a giant like Disney and acquire it for US$71.3 billion.
But the US$71.3 billion is very intriguing.
Have you paid any taxes?
Have you paid in full again?
Or what methods were used to avoid tax laws?
If it is really suspected of tax evasion, then Disney, a giant company, will be at the forefront of the storm.
(End of this chapter)