American Tax Officer

Chapter 235: Chapter 165: The Scapegoat Gavin

Although the Secretary of State is third in ranking, he holds real power, unlike the Deputy Governor, who is constantly restricted by the Governor.

If we could also secure the cooperation of the Secretary of State, it could be said that Governor Stevenson would be largely undercut.

Twenty minutes later, David put down the document in his hands, his expression slightly grave.

The Secretary of State for Nevada was Oldington Joe, who was not only from the same party as Stevenson but also had been directly promoted by him.

According to his file, over the years Stevenson pointed east and he went east, pointed west and he went west, never once disobeying or questioning Stevenson's decrees.

To put it more colloquially, he was nothing but a loyal lackey.

Since there was no rift between them, winning him over would definitely not be as simple as it was with Laurie Frederick.

David pondered carefully, his gaze gradually sharpening.

He didn't care how loyal the Secretary of State was to Stevenson, but if the man insisted on being 'willfully ignorant,' then he wouldn't mind taking care of him!

After reviewing the personal files of these two individuals, David didn't immediately meet with Gavin but instead turned to examine the major case files of the Ninglin Branch Office.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was five o'clock in the afternoon.

In the waiting hall, Gavin had one cup of coffee after another, smoked one cigarette after another, but still had not been called by David, which was making him restless.

Just as he was about to get up to make a scene, he was stopped in his tracks by a figure emerging from the elevator.

It was none other than Jon, the Nevada State Director of the IRS.

Jon's visit today was primarily prompted by rumors that the IRS had arrested an FBI agent, and he wanted to find out what was going on.

But he hadn't expected to find Gavin there, which made him freeze and stare in surprise.

However, he quickly recovered.

Gavin, as the head of the FBI in Nevada, was now here, which meant the media reports were probably true.

The Ninglin State Tax Bureau had indeed brought back an agent of the FBI!

Collecting his thoughts, Jon approached as if unaware and asked, "Isn't this Special Agent Gavin? What brings you to our Tax Bureau?"

"I'm here to see Director David. I've been waiting for over four hours now. If Director Jon could, please let him know on my behalf."

Upon hearing this, Jon was taken aback once again.

Gavin, as the FBI's big shot in Nevada, was not a low-ranking official.

Even if Jon himself wanted to meet with him, Jon would not dare to leave him waiting for over four hours.

But here he was, having been kept waiting by David for more than four hours?

And what surprised him even more was that, despite being kept waiting for so long, Gavin was willing to take it?

After careful consideration, Jon could only think of one possibility.

It was not only that the FBI agent had been brought here, but it was also very likely that David had obtained some very damaging leverage over him.

Otherwise, David wouldn't have the confidence to leave someone hanging for over four hours, and Gavin wouldn't be so willing to suffer the indignity.

Realizing this, Jon replied, "Director David must be busy. How about this—I'll go see him first and then see if he can spare some time to meet with you."

"That would be much appreciated, Director Jon..."

Since Jon was the State Director, even Nisen didn't dare to neglect him. She immediately led him to the door of the makeshift office, knocked, awaited a response, then pushed the door open and entered.

"Director, Jon is here," said Nisen, and Jon stepped directly into the room behind her.

Seeing Jon's arrival, David didn't take liberties and promptly stood up, saying, "Director Jon, what brings you here?"

Jon replied, somewhat irritated, "The media outside is buzzing about how our IRS has arrested an FBI agent. How could I not come to see what the fuss is all about?"

David felt slightly embarrassed as he responded, "Sorry, Director Jon, we should have informed you about this beforehand..."

"Enough, let's not discuss that now. What's your purpose in detaining an FBI agent?"

Arresting an FBI agent, if not for a specific reason, didn't offer much benefit to their Tax Bureau.

After all, the FBI is a powerful agency in America; both agencies frequently interact, and a tense relationship could significantly affect their tax collection work in the future.

"It's a long story, but I'll keep it short. Mainly, the FBI found evidence of bribery against one of my subordinates and wanted to use it to threaten me, so I had no choice but to act," David explained.

"They found evidence of bribery against one of your subordinates?!"

Jon was initially shocked, but he quickly thought of the feud between David and Stevenson and assumed this was likely Stevenson's move to deal with David.

However, their feud wasn't Jon's primary concern.

His main focus was the issue of the subordinate's bribery, because if it ever got out, it would be a significant blow to the image of their Tax Bureau.

And as the head of the Nevada State Tax Bureau, he would naturally bear some of the responsibility.

"Yes, if this wrongdoing comes to light, it will be a scandal for our Tax Bureau, so I must now take care of the executioner from the FBI!"

Jon nodded, indicating that he sort of understood David's approach, then followed up with a question, "Since you now dare to directly make a move on someone from the FBI, you must have a considerable level of confidence, right?"

David smiled, "With the evidence we've gathered now, there's absolutely no problem sending them to court and into prison!"

"Oh?"

Jon's eyes lit up, but to make absolutely sure there was no mistake, he still wanted to confirm it himself. He then said, "Show me the evidence, let me have a look!"

Right away, David opened the cabinet under his desk, took out the files of those five FBI members, and placed them in front of Jon.

And Jon didn't dawdle; he immediately started to read through them.

Twenty minutes later.

A smile spread across Jon's face.

After his examination, he found that, just as David had said, these pieces of evidence were indeed enough to take down those five FBI members.

"That'll do, but don't overplay, okay? We will stop while we're ahead, there's no need to completely burn bridges with the FBI!"

"I'll take care of it, Director Jon."

"Oh right, when I came in just now, I saw that Special Agent Gavin has been waiting, and he's been waiting for over four hours now. That's probably enough; have a talk with him."

"I was just thinking of looking for him."

Actually, without needing Jon to say it, David had already planned to summon Gavin because leaving him hanging for over four hours was already quite a revenge for him.

"Alright, then. I'll go talk to Director Egbert."

After Jon left, David immediately gave Nisen instructions to bring Gavin to his office.

A second before entering the office, Gavin still wore an expression as if his mother had died, but once inside, to facilitate a smoother negotiation, he had to forcibly adopt a more open demeanor, reaching out his hand first and saying, "Director David, I've long heard of your reputation, and I'm finally meeting you today."

"Special Agent Gavin, I've also heard much about you, please have a seat."

Observing the other's forced demeanor, David felt somewhat amused inside, but he did not show it outwardly and quietly used the golden finger to examine his information.

[Name: Gavin Oligi]

[Occupation: Nevada State Special Agent for the FBI.]

[Income: Legal income of $25,630, illegal income of $253,000.]

[Income Details: On December 15th, the Deputy Mayor's son of Carson City was arrested by the FBI, accepted a $50,000 bribe for a favor; on December 28th, a state legislator involved in a prostitution scandal, solved the issue for him for $100,000…]

[More Details: …]

[Tax Owed: $83,490.]

After sitting down, Gavin was the first to speak, "Director David, I heard that your Tax Bureau has taken a few of my subordinates in to investigate a case. Is there any progress?"

David didn't beat around the bush and simply pushed the same five files that Jon had finished reviewing to Gavin, saying, "Why don't you take a look for yourself, Special Agent Gavin."

Gavin frowned slightly, then picked up the files and started to check them.

As the contents kept flooding in, his brow gradually morphed into lines of complex and chaotic furrows.

By the time he reached the fifth file, his spirits had plummeted to rock bottom.

Ou En had already reported to him earlier that the Tax Bureau had obtained ironclad evidence that could prove their guilt.

And now, after reviewing it himself, he had thoroughly confirmed one thing.

They had solid evidence against Poppy, with a witness, but now that the witness was gone, and they did not have the advantage of having their own court like the Tax Bureau, the two were incomparable.

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Pushing aside his thoughts, Gavin looked up and asked, "What do you want?"

David shot back, "It's not about what I want, it's about what you want, Special Agent Gavin!"

Gavin's expression shifted back and forth for a while before finally responding, "The Governor and your issues with the Tax Bureau—the FBI will not interfere anymore!"

David gave a scornful smile, "That's hardly enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Special Agent Gavin, do you think our Tax Bureau is easy to bully? You think you can mess with us whenever you want and just back off when you don't?"

David's words left Gavin speechless for a moment.

But he really had no rebuttal.

Because the causality of this matter was indeed initiated by the FBI when they first targeted David's subordinates, and now David was just counterattacking.

"So, what do you want?"

"First, you immediately destroy any investigation reports related to Poppy. For the ones that have been sent out, find a way to make them look like fictitious documents without any basis!"

"That's doable."

Since the FBI could investigate and produce a report on someone's criminal evidence, making that report into an invalid document wasn't a difficult task, so Gavin agreed without hesitation.