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"It's quite normal, because there's a lot of physical labor in our prison," Peter explained reasonably. "Even if it's not 6 hours, just working for two or three hours can be exhausting. But they're prisoners, after all, so they have to accept the punishment that comes with their crimes!"
Peter's explanation seemed reasonable enough, and any regular tax agency personnel would have been easily fooled by it.
However, David had already learned the ins and outs of the prison through the three guards he met earlier and a thorough scrutiny with his 'golden finger' upon entering the prison, so he naturally didn't believe such statements.
"Continue," David urged.
In the time that followed, David's 'tour' of Block C continued, and he subsequently visited Zones D and E.
After spending over two hours, although somewhat physically and mentally fatigued, the trip was generally very worthwhile.
Based on his scrutiny of the guards and inmates in each zone using his 'golden finger,' David roughly calculated an amount.
The prison had a total of 5 zones, each with 50-60 special cells.
Since the establishment of the prison three years ago, a zone's special cells made about 18 million a year, totaling 54 million over three years.
The earnings from the special cells in all five zones combined amounted to 240 million.
And this was just the income from the special cells.
According to his understanding, the prison had collaborations with many companies.
They took on a large number of orders for buttons, screws, and handmade crafts, then transported them back to the prison, where they exploited the labor of these prisoners day and night to earn huge profits.
David conservatively estimated that this must have added up to more than 300 million US dollars.
Therefore, the total business from these two sources amounted to over 500 million US dollars. Although a part of the tax was claimed through the books, about 200 million of it must have bypassed their tax system.
It seemed that Saxton's mention of the involved amount reaching up to a hundred million was, in fact, too conservative.
Of course, it wasn't his fault.
[Occupation: Manager of Nevada GCO Prison Zone A.]
[Income: Legal monthly income 8,000 US dollars, illegal income 1.6 million US dollars.]
[Income details: Gained by exploiting prisoners, abuse of power for personal gain...]
[Tax due: 633,600 US dollars.]
...
[Name: Nicholas Maltese.]
[Occupation: Manager of Nevada GCO Prison Zone B.]
[Income: Legal monthly income 8,000 US dollars, illegal income 1.5 million US dollars.]
[Income details: Gained by exploiting prisoners, abuse of power for personal gain...]
[Tax due: 594,000 US dollars.]
...
[...]
While scrutinizing the information of the people arriving, David also took out a notebook and pen, beginning to jot down some key information about these individuals.
"Director David, I am Andrew, the deputy warden of this place. Our prison's accounts are all documented, and there are no issues regarding taxes. I'm not sure what the aim of your visit today is?" At this moment, Andrew had approached David, feigning innocence and confusion.
David didn't immediately respond to him but continued writing in his notebook until three minutes later. He then put away his pen and paper and replied, "Deputy Warden Andrew, I've received reports from some released prisoners alleging severe cash-for-power transactions within your prison.
As you know, our tax bureau has introduced the Black Tax Bill, which requires us to investigate transactions such as these."
"Cash-for-power transactions? That's nonsense, surely the spiteful slander of some prisoners. As you know, Director David, friction between our staff and the prisoners is common, and these lawbreakers, bearing grudges, thus slander us. It's only to be expected," Andrew argued.
"Is that so?" David smiled slightly and said, "But they came with evidence, which I've already verified. There are indeed such problems in your prison, and this is not slander!"
Upon hearing there was evidence, Andrew and the prison's administrative staff felt a jolt of anxiety.