American Tax Officer

After returning to her seat, Kerry shook his head and said, "Ms. Julie, the words you spoke in the video were too explicit. They prove that you did take the Yin-Yang Contract and were even knowledgeable about money laundering. I can't help you anymore, sorry..."

From the moment Isaac appeared, Julie had already guessed this outcome, but now that it had come to this, she felt even more unwilling to accept it and immediately asked, "This case is 20 years old, and as far as I know, the black tax law only took effect on December 3rd last year. Surely the IRS can't trace back that many years, can they?"

"Yes, according to the black tax law, illegal income can't be traced back before December 3rd, 2021. But in fact, this law is tailor-made for criminals. You don't belong to that category. Moreover, the contract you signed at that time was a Yin-Yang Contract, which can be considered as inflated legal income. The IRS's tax laws are very complex, and the right of interpretation lies with them.

There's no point in arguing with them, nor is there any need to continue the argument," he answered.

Kerry certainly didn't want to lose like this, but there was nothing he could do with both the testimony and the evidence against her. The charge had effectively been proven. What more was there to argue?

Hearing this, Julie's face was filled with despair.

"The defendant, Julie, has been found guilty of tax evasion and of financial and tax fraud. The sentence will be pronounced later!"

As the words fell, Nicola's gaze turned to the second high-profile figure in the defendant's seat, Will Smith, and she questioned, "Mr. Will, the court now charges you with alleged tax evasion. Do you have any recollection of this, or were you consciously aware?"

Will, whose name had just been called, felt a tremor in his heart. When he was taken away by the IRS, he was quite confident, believing his tax affairs were absolutely in order.

But he had seen the case against Julie with his own eyes. If the Western Suburb Branch could dig up matters from 20 years ago, who could say they were definitely clean under the circumstances of that time?

"Your Honor, my client completely denies these charges!"

Seeing Will at a loss, his attorney Okasi stood up.
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Though Julie's example was before him, since he had been called, he certainly couldn't just surrender without a fight. He needed to test how deep the waters of the Western Suburb Branch were.

On this side, David put down his water glass and uncrossed his legs, walking unhurriedly to the front and saying, "Your Honor, I request the presence of a witness."

"Granted!"

The next second, a black man was led out through the passageway.

After arriving at the witness stand, the black man introduced himself, "Your Honor, my name is Horace Magee, and I was one of the producers of the movie [Independence Day]!"

"Fake, it's Independence Day!"

"Independence Day, a movie released in 1996, wouldn't be involved in illegal activities like money laundering, would it?"

"Before Julie was convicted based on events from 20 years ago, now this Will Smith, he wouldn't also be convicted because of a movie released 16 years ago, would he?"

When it was revealed that it was the movie Independence Day, murmurs began to spread among the spectators.

Based on the precedent set by Julie's case.

If the Western Suburbs Branch could find a 20-year-old person and physical evidence to convict her, then it seemed not too difficult to find evidence if Independence Day, a 16-year-old movie, indeed was involved in illegal activities.

Ignoring the thoughts of the crowd, Nicola asked from the bench, "Alright Horace, since you were a producer of [Independence Day], what do you want to convey in this court?"

"What I want to convey is that the cost reported for the movie at the time greatly differed from the actual cost."

Nicola didn't quite understand and asked, "Horace, what do you mean by that? Can you be more specific?"

"It is similar to the situation with the movie [Shadow Terminator] that Ms. Julie was involved in," he clarified.

Upon hearing this, Nicola and everyone else in the court seemed to understand.

If it was anything like Shadow Terminator, did it mean the film was also involved in tax evasion, financial and tax fraud?

"Mr. Horace, we can talk about the specifics of the film later. Right now, we have Mr. Will standing here. So, please get to the point!"

"Alright, Your Honor, the point is actually quite simple. If the costs for the film were inflated, there must be evidence of expenditure. So, similar to Ms. Julie's case, the payment Mr. Will received at the time, to be precise, was from an inflated contract!"

As he finished, a shock went through the crowd.

An inflated contract meant a Yin-Yang Contract.

This implied that back then, Will might have only paid tax on the regular contract, while the other part of the Yin-Yang Contract wasn't taxed!

If this were the case, it would indeed constitute suspected tax evasion.

If found guilty, this could mean another internationally renowned movie star, following Julie, would face the IRS's punishment.

In the defendant's seat, hearing the producer's words, Will felt his legs go weak and found no need for his lawyer to speak. He himself frantically explained, "No, Your Honor, I truly only received the salary I was supposed to get at the time. As for any inflation, I was completely unaware!"

After addressing Nicola, Will turned to David with a pleading look and said, "Director David, I really didn't know, please see the truth..."

"Indeed, strictly speaking, Mr. Will was not knowingly involved!"

Upon hearing David's words, many in the audience were puzzled.

Were you not intending to accuse Will?

Why are you speaking in his defense in court all of a sudden?

However, what many didn't realize was that David never intended to go hard on these high-profile individuals.

He was targeting the eight major film studios behind them.

Will paused for a moment, then, grasping what had just happened, he almost madly rejoiced, exclaiming, "Your Honor, did you hear that? I was unaware, Director David himself said I was unaware!"

"Director David, if Mr. Will was unaware, then...?"

"Someone was aware!"

"Who?"

David stretched out his finger, pointing to Director McCauley who had been brought in from the Fox Film Corporation, and said, "This man here, Director McCauley from the Fox Film Corporation!"