Chapter 1160: Offsh.o.r.e Mansion
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Things went as Li Du expected. The anger of the old gentlemen and ladies burst out
once they knew this was a big fraud, flooding the organizers.
Indeed, the mood among the tourists was even more violent than he had expected.
The police department had arranged for two cars to come and check things out. When
the police officers found that there was a riot on the beach, they did not even dare to get
out of the cars. The cars moved slowly on the beach and called for backup forces.
Four more police cars came, and then even more from all directions, including an urban
anti-riot vehicle.
Police arrested the scam organizers and broke up the tourist group to get everyone to
calm down.
Some old men and women were so emotional that they almost attacked the police
officers.
Seeing this, the Australian police showed no leniency. They directly pinned the
offenders to the ground with their s.h.i.+elds, handcuffed them and took them away.
At this time, the angry old people finally calmed down. They found out that the foreign
policemen were not as timid and helpless as the police at home. These policemen
reacted harshly to any violence, disregarding the attackers’ advanced age.
.
The police pinned down a few people, arrested a few more, and the rest of the group
backed off.
However, even though they had calmed down they had no place to go, as the police,
saying that they needed them to a.s.sist in the investigation, took all the tour guides
away.
Li Du and his parents, who were involved, could not leave. The police asked them to
stay on the beach.
At this point, the contacts of the top Harry Winston group executives exercised their
influence, and they were released without even needing to pay bail, as the three were
victims.
Some were outraged by this and asked, “Why are they allowed to leave and we have to
stay here?”
The policeman shrugged and said, “They’re not with you.”
“But they also partic.i.p.ated in the lucky draw. I recognize them, especially that young
man. His surname is Li, he drew the grand prize, a big yacht,” a lady said anxiously.
“Would you like some coffee?” asked the policeman.
The lady was thrown off and said, “I want to know when we can leave.”
“Soon. We are not arresting you, we’re keeping you safe, and as soon as the
investigation is over, we’ll let you go.”
“Okay,” the lady said, “I’ll have a cup of coffee.”
The policeman nodded, beckoned to his colleague, and said, “Here, get auntie a
cappuccino.”
Li Du took the big yacht away, leaving no name.
He didn’t want to leave any tracks. After all, he took away the biggest prize, so the
police would inevitably still want to talk to him.
However, the case had nothing to do with Li Du. The police only investigated and
collected evidence, and even as such, the yacht could not be confiscated.
That evening, reports of the case appeared on the news.
The police had uncovered a major international fraud involving Chinese, j.a.panese,
Korean, American and British nationals.
The gang used free lucky draws as a pretext to contact travel agencies and offer them
to take tourists to the event. The prizes were all fake or inferior products.
They made money by pretending to help the tax office collect taxes that did not match
the value of the prize, and by charging visitors a commission for helping to sell the prize.
For example, when someone won a car, it would not be easy to take it back to their
country. The scammer would sign a sales agreement with them, using the commission,
site fees, labor costs, and other reasons, to charge them exorbitant sums.
After collecting the money, they would leave the city that very day, take the money and
leave a pile of junk for the tourists.
This kind of fraud has occurred in several countries, but this was the first time it
happened in Australia, so the local police did not detect it at once.
The scam gang had succeeded many times and could be considered powerful. Before,
their grand prize was only a fancy car, but they decided to play a bit bigger in Sydney
and added a luxurious yacht.
The yacht was the only genuine prize among them all. It had to be a genuine prize
because they had to go through the Sydney officials to organize this lucky draw activity.
There was a prize checking session, and the yacht had to undergo it before the draw
could take place.
They had planned to pull it off, take the yacht that same day, and leave Australia with
the money.
They had not expected that someone would win the yacht, uncovering the scam and
costing them all their fortune
Australians had no interest in news of this scam. It was just an after-dinner joke about
the stupidity of the con man.
They did not think about the case in depth. However, the scammers realized that
something about Li Du was fishy, and they definitely thought this was more than a mere
coincidence.
However, they were going to be put in prison, and could not investigate this matter or
prevent their loss.
Li Du was watching the news on board of his new yacht. He was extremely delighted to
gain it for his own.
The yacht the scammers offered as a grand prize was of the Manhattan55 model, and
happened to be the first of its kind in Australia.
All luxury yachts needed to be customized. This one he now had was a sample. The
scammers had no time to customize it and bought the sample s.h.i.+p at a high price.
However, if customized the M55 would be cheaper and would only cost about 4.5
million.
Compared to Li Du’s Starfish X60 yacht, this one was more advanced and luxurious.
The M55 had a smooth hull, three decks, perfect proportions and s.p.a.ce utilization,
dynamic shape and large internal room capacity.
Like the starfish X60, it had a double-deck driving area, all-weather comfort and a
s.p.a.cious c.o.c.kpit that could accommodate a bed.
The s.h.i.+p was nearly 20 meters in length, with a roomy main reception area, a master
bedroom, a large VIP cabin, and four small cabins. It had a fully equipped kitchen and
entertainment facilities.
Before, Li Du and the other seven or eight people felt crowded living on the Starfish, but
they would not encounter this problem on the new yacht, which could easily
accommodate seventeen to eighteen people.
In terms of power, the M55 adopted a strong and silent dual diesel engine and propeller.
Big Ivan said that this could be used as a backup. The two engines and propeller could
each work alone at ordinary times, and if one was broken the other could be used.
In the evening, Li Du could not wait to try out his new yacht, so he got on board to
experience the feeling of driving it.
The yacht itself had a viewing loft where one could sit and watch the sun rise and set, or
lie down on it and look up at the stars.
With more people, one could go to the salon area at the back of the yacht. In the stern,
there was a sea-bathing platform that could be lowered and raised.
Anyhow, the yacht Li Du gained was a luxury offsh.o.r.e mansion!