American Tax Officer

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However, David wasn't so preoccupied with these issues; his thoughts were entirely fixated on what Bennett had just said—8 billion to end his career, what did that mean?

Could it be...

Had Disney made some sort of move against him at the headquarters?

That seemed unlikely...

In the current tax bureau system, who would dare claim to shine brighter than him?

Who would dare say they had achieved more than he had?

Plus, he wasn't without allies at the headquarters; at the very least, Donald, as well as Obadiah and a group of senior officials, had shown him significant support.

The network of Disney's boss might be a bit complex, but it couldn't possibly influence the headquarters to discard him, a goose that laid golden eggs, could it?

"Director David?"

Having seen David lost in thought for quite a while, Freeman couldn't help but inquire.

"In that case, discuss these matters with Deputy Director Keanu from our bureau. As long as the money is confirmed to be in place, we will issue a notice to revoke the seizure order," David replied.

"Okay then."

Freeman immediately stood up and left the room.

David, however, plunged back into thought.

Combining that remark from Bennett, he increasingly felt that the sudden transfer of Bellamy Hattie and Brown Soros into the headquarters might have something to do with Disney's bosses...

But to believe that Disney's bosses had managed to position these two, he found that hard to trust.

Could it be...

The bosses of Disney, were they members of Freemasonry?

David slapped his forehead, regretting that he had spent all this time discussing taxes and had forgotten to properly use his "golden finger" to examine Bennett to see if he was indeed a member of Freemasonry.

However, if he was, it would make sense that they could leverage the power of the Freemasonry Group to get these two placed in their positions.

But then again, if the Disney family were members of Freemasonry, yet the headquarters still dared to let him go after Disney, that would mean that this family didn't hold a very significant position within Freemasonry.

On the other hand, if the Disney family's position within Freemasonry wasn't significant, then how could they dare to talk about ending his career?

Many points in this puzzled David.

Forget it, Deputy Director Donald is arriving in Los Angeles today anyway. Once he gets here, we should be able to understand the whole story,

...

An hour later, when Freeman walked out of the main entrance of the Western Suburb Branch, the media, who had been "starving" for information, instantly swarmed him.

"Mr. Freeman, has Disney reached an agreement with the Western Suburb Branch?"

"Mr. Freeman, will you accept the penalties?"

"Mr. Freeman..."

With both hands pressing down, Freeman gestured for everyone to quiet down before saying, "We have indeed reached an agreement with the Western Suburb Branch and will pay a total of 7.175 billion US dollars in taxes to lift the group's seizure order."

"What, 7.175 billion US dollars!"

"Oh my, that has to be the biggest tax evasion penalty in America's history, right?"

"Incredible, Disney is actually accepting such a massive fine."

Both the media present and the online community were shocked by such a huge amount.

Like the previous four major film companies, though their total fines amounted to 8 billion, that was just a collective total; split between the four companies, it averaged out to only 2 billion each.

However, Disney now was nearly catching up to those four combined, an amount which could not help but astonish people.

Hollywood.

Upon the announcement from Disney, all the big and small film companies that had still harbored a sliver of hope now despaired.
Experience tales with empire

Hollywood's Eight Major Film Companies, with even Disney, the leading figure, having submitted, how could these smaller Karamis dare continue the standoff with the Western Suburb Branch?

Immediately, the various film companies convened their finance and tax departments, instructing them to go through all the tax issues in detail and prepare to report to the Western Suburb Branch.

At four in the afternoon, in the lobby of the first floor of the Western Suburb Branch, David, along with all the other senior officials of the branch, were already standing firm.

They had received a notification shortly before that Deputy Director Donald's plane had landed at Long Beach International Airport and was on the way to them.

Seven or eight minutes later, a Cadillac stopped at the door and as the car door opened, a suit-clad, radiant-faced Donald stepped out and walked into the foyer.

Waiting there was David, who immediately approached and greeted, "Deputy Director Donald."

"Well done, David."

First, Donald praised David, then turned to look at Keanu Lewis and others, saying, "Your efforts in the Hollywood tax review have been hard work. The headquarters will record a merit for each of you!"

On hearing this, Keanu Lewis and the others were thrilled. This was praise coming from a bigwig at the headquarters, who had also promised them recognition that would instantly brighten their respective futures.

"Let's talk more upstairs."

David nodded, instructed everyone to resume their tasks, and then led Donald up to his office.

Once seated, Donald said, "Do you know, David, the president just called me personally to express his approval and praise for this tax investigation. He even mentioned you, couldn't stop singing your praises, and asked you to keep up the good work."

David was taken aback. He knew that once Disney announced the payment of such a vast sum of taxes, it would certainly alarm the White House, but he hadn't expected the response to be so swift, or for the president himself to send his commendations.

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