Pang Qing's case had all the witnesses and evidence, Qu Deren tried it personally, and with Tao Hongfang's support, the police station used a lot of manpower to invest in the investigation, and it took only two days to quickly find out the circumstances of the case.
As the principal culprit in this case, Pang Qing planned and implemented the plan to withhold relief food. After he transported the public grain from the official treasury, he resold part of it to two local unscrupulous grain dealers, and then sent the rest to various construction sites for delivery.
The amount of food Pang Qing sent to each construction site was almost ten thousand kilograms, and the conditions on the construction site could not be weighed and reviewed on-site. In addition, he used words to urge the other party, so it was easy for him to take advantage of the loopholes.
If the person responsible for receiving was a little careless and didn't find the wrong quantity on the spot, and just signed the manifest, the money would have fallen steadily into Pang Qing's pocket.
Even if the other party finds out during the handover, as long as Pang Qing is willing to pay a sum of money to buy the way, or use his official position to intimidate, there is still a high probability that he can get away with it.
At the current stage in Nanjing where the responsibilities and powers of various yamen have not yet been clarified, the transportation and handover of materials lacks effective supervision. Pang Qing's method cannot be said to be 100% successful, but there is indeed a high probability that it will be able to scrape a large sum of money from the relief materials as he wishes.
But he was really unlucky, and he hit Qin Jian at the beginning.
Although Qin Jian is not a big shot, he has worked under the command of the Haihan government for two or three months. He is relatively familiar with some of the official operating procedures of Haihan and is not so easily fooled.
In addition, he already had some wealth, and he had Qu Deren, a relative in the public family, so Pang Qing failed to achieve the expected results whether he bribed or intimidated him.
On the contrary, repeated stimulations made Qin Jian completely annoyed and brought the matter directly to the government.
From the moment Qu Deren took over the matter, Pang Qing was destined to have no end. Only Qu Deren understood how great a contribution it would be to catch a big rat like Pang Qing.
Regardless of whether Pang Qing repented or not, Qu Deren would never let him go. Even if Qin Jian didn't cooperate in setting a trap for him, Qu Deren would still have other ways to take him down.
This has nothing to do with stance. Pang Qing was corrupt and bent the law for his own benefit, and Qu Deren designed to arrest him for the same reason.
Along with Pang Qing, there were two grain merchants involved in the case, a foreman who cooperated with them, four subordinates and two carters who assisted Pang Qing in reselling grain.
The eight thousand kilograms of grain that had been resold by Pang Qing were all recovered from the warehouses of illegal grain merchants. In addition, all the hundreds of yuan in income that Pang Qing profited from were recovered by the police station.
"Chengwu, what do you think would be a more appropriate verdict in this case?"
"According to the laws of Haihan, those who steal disaster relief materials are punished with a minimum sentence of five years in prison, and in serious cases, they can be sentenced to death. In my opinion, in troubled times, heavy punishments should be used, and all should be punished with the death penalty to serve as a warning to others!"
The case has been concluded and the files are placed on the table in the conference room. Shi Chengwu and Tao Hongfang have already read the files, and there is not much to discuss about the case. The only thing that needs to be discussed is how to judge the case.
After hearing Shi Chengwu's answer, Tao Hongfang hesitated: "Would this sentence be a little harsh?"
Shi Chengwu said: "Hongfang, in order to govern the local area, we must first establish the system and authority. The system is the Haihan Law, and the authority is to resolutely and resolutely implement the Haihan Law. We cannot popularize the law among the local people in a short time, but we can let They know exactly what they can’t do and what Haihan’s rules are!”
Since Shi Chengwu took office, the number of local death row inmates sentenced by him has already reached double digits. Sentencing a few more people does not pose any psychological barrier to him. What's more, the crimes committed by Pang Qing and his group are the targets to be targeted at this stage. However, Tao Hongfang is in charge of the relief project. Shi Chengwu must respect his opinion to some extent on how to decide the case.
Tao Hongfang said: "What you said makes sense. Then I don't think it's better than this. Pang Qing, two illegal grain merchants, and the foreman who cooperated with Pang Qing are the main criminals in this case and deserve a heavy sentence. I don't agree with the death penalty." No objection. As for the other collaborators, I think exile is enough, and the death penalty is a bit overkill."
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "Then do what you want! I will have people post the details of the case and the verdict everywhere in and outside the city."
Tao Hongfang added: "I think the meritorious personnel in investigating this case can also be appropriately rewarded. If it had not been discovered early, it is unimaginable how much the relief materials would have been embezzled by these rats!"
Shi Diwen said: "You seem to have forgotten one thing."
Tao Hongfang shook his head gently and said: "How could you forget? It's not too late to make up for it. Since something like this happened, it means that there are big loopholes in the current operation plan, and we have to find ways to make up for it."
Shi Diwen said: "Then how do you plan to make up for it?"
Tao Hongfang said: "Improve the procedures and strengthen supervision. The transportation, handover and settlement of relief materials must be supervised by dedicated personnel, otherwise similar situations will occur sooner or later."
Shi Diwen smiled meaningfully: "Then this is a big fat job! You have to choose talents carefully."
Notices regarding the relief grain corruption case were quickly posted everywhere in and around Nanjing.
Pang Qing and other four principal criminals were sentenced to death and their property confiscated. The remaining accomplices were sentenced to exile overseas and were not allowed to return home for twenty years.
Such a verdict naturally won a lot of praise for the Management Committee from the public. People generally believed that Haihan's law enforcement was much tougher than during the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, Qin Jian also saw the notice. While lamenting the harsh judgment of the Executive Committee, he couldn't help but feel grateful secretly. If he had not been able to withstand the pressure exerted by Pang Qing, or had not resisted the temptation of money, then his name, Qin Jian, might have been added to the sentence list.
But having said that, it was precisely because of his meritorious service in reporting the case during the investigation that the Management Committee also gave him a special reward - he was transferred to the newly established inspection team at the Relief Project Headquarters.
When luck came, it was impossible to stop him. Qin Jian was transferred from Yanziji Wharf to the river embankment construction site. After only working as a foreman for a few days, he was promoted again.
Although he didn't know what the new position was, it was obviously a level higher than that of a foreman.
It wasn't until he reported to the Yamen that he learned that this inspection team was personally led by Liu Tianning. The job content was to supervise the construction progress and material access at each construction site to avoid a similar situation like the Pang Qing case from happening again.
That night Qu Deren held a banquet at home to celebrate Qin Jian's promotion.
Qu Deren excitedly patted Qin Jian on the shoulder and said, "What I told you a few days ago was right, right? This Pang Qing came to your door as an opportunity in front of you. Now you have already stepped into the Yamen with one leg." You are here, perform well, and you will be able to get an official position soon!”